flahute

Another Utah Cyclocross Series in the books … and today was definitely an interesting one.

To start with, both Matt Ohran and Jon Gallagher were out of town … Matt is back east for a Cannondale sales meeting while Jon is in Portland working (and racing) the US Gran Prix of Cyclocross.

That means that it was up to all the rest of us to put on a race at Fort Buenaventura, in Ogden.

Course design and set-up was by Bart Gillespie and Alex Grant, with a suggestion from me to make the lap times longer (essentially, I insisted on putting out the barriers) … and it seems to have been have been a popular course today. Snow was falling, and it looked like everyone was having fun.

I did have one “small” meltdown at one of the Contender riders who was standing directly in front of the truck with a few other people blocking our view of racers as they were crossing the line during the 35+ B race; his actions when I yelled at him to move (after laying on the horn to get their attention) didn’t help, but I should have kept my cool. I’m not entirely sure who it was, but dude, if you’re reading this, I apologize.

The Church of the Big Ring had a good showing today, with Utah State Cyclocross Champion Ali Goulet again taking the win in the Men’s A race ahead of Bart Gillespie (MonaVie-Cannondale), before heading off to Portland tonight to race in the final USGP Cyclocross race of the season tomorrow. Ali has the 35+ title wrapped up in the USGP, but Bart still manages to keep the Utah Cyclocross Series title for the umpteenth consecutive year. Alex Grant (also MonaVie-Cannondale) took third place today, while Jason Sager (Team Jamis) was fourth.

In the 35+ A race, Art O’Connor was gapped early by Kris Arnott of Ski Utah Cycling, but clawed his way back into the lead with about 3 laps to go and held on to take yet another win, wrapping up his series title to go with his 35+ A Utah State Cyclocross Championship in the process. Darrell “Doctor Cross” Davis turned in an incredible performance to take 3rd place in the 35+ A race today. Looks like the Doc is back, and will be looking to educate the masters next year.

Kathy Sherwin (Velo Bella) took another win in the women’s A race but it was a battle against Sarah Kaufman of Roaring Mouse-Binghams; Team Revolution’s Erika Powers put in a strong 3rd place finish today and wrapped up the series title. Kathy hasn’t had the greatest season this year, which is quite understandable considering what she has gone through this fall, losing both parents within a couple of months, so it was nice to see her out there doing something she loves.

Kara Harris (Ski Utah Cycling) took the win in the women’s B race ahead of Team Revolution’s Gigi “Waffles” Austria. It’s going to come down to the math, but I think Melissa Perry’s (Team Revolution) 3rd place finish today gave her enough points to keep her lead in the series, and thus take the series title.

Don’t ask me what happened in the other series races … that’s Jon’s job, and the points should all be updated by Monday or Tuesday.

It’s been a great season, and I’m already looking forward to next fall … unless someone wants to start promoting a January/February cyclocross series … although I’ll probably be too busy skiing to work that series if someone did try to put it together.

Next up, the Last Call Cyclocross Race at Wheeler Farm on Saturday, January 2, 2010 … a non-series and definitely non-serious race. Anyone who races for a result is disqualified, so come out and have fun … then go to the Utah Cyclocross Series party and awards ceremony later that night. I think the party will be at Rocky Mountain Raceway again as it was last year. I’m told the theme this year is “Pirates”, but I’m still lobbying for “Reality TV” …

Cyclocross from M.C. Preman on Vimeo.

Looks like the UTCX State Championships got some decent coverage on Park City Television … great interviews with Slohran and Bart, and lots of screen time for The Church of the Big Ring … and even yours truly got a little bit of air time. Yeah, yeah, my time is mostly of the back of my head, but I did get one line; yep, you can hear me shouting “Go!”.

Wow, have I been lax on posting anything original lately. As often happens, life has taken a few unexpected turns and I just haven’t really gotten around to it.

For the past several months, I was dating a really incredible woman. Unfortunately, it was a long-distance relationship and the 800 miles of separation became too much of an obstacle to overcome, and we split up a few weeks ago. One of the many great things about this relationship is that I learned I can fully commit emotionally, and take all the risks necessary to make it work; and even thought it didn’t ultimately work out, I don’t regret a second. If the opportunity arose again, I would still dive in headfirst without a second thought or a second glance. And the next person who enters my life romantically will also benefit from what I have learned and continue to learn.

In other “news”, I’ve also been having some car problems. The Trooper had intermittent starter problems for months, but every time I took it into the shop, it would start right up for the mechanics, so they couldn’t diagnose the problem. Eventually, the starter finally crapped out for good, and I had to compression start for several trips before I could get it back in and the starter replaced.

Of course, as I’m sure as anyone who drives an older stick shift knows, compression starting a car is not the best thing in the world for the clutch or transmission. I’m guessing my clutch was getting pretty worn anyway (although I never really noticed any issues), but a couple weeks after getting the starter replaced, the clutch died … so another day in the shop getting that replaced (along with the corresponding expense).

Hopefully, the Trooper is back in good running condition and I won’t have any more problems in the foreseeable future … at least not until I can put together enough dosh to buy a new(er) vehicle. Requirements: 4WD/AWD and big enough to put bikes and/or skis inside, preferably without having to remove anything except perhaps the front wheel.

Work is going well; recently changed departments to Corporate Actions/Re-Org. This means that instead of dealing with branches who are trying to figure out how to open new accounts and complaining about statements, I’m now dealing with people who are wondering when stock splits and dividends are going to be distributed; what the terms of tender offers are going to be, etc. Perhaps because it’s new, or perhaps because it requires a bit of research skill and inductive/deductive reasoning, but right now this gig is kind of fun again.

Cyclocross season is going well … yeah yeah, I’m not racing, but a number of my friends are having breakout seasons, and the series is continuing to grow by leaps and bounds, and I’m getting to work with a great bunch of people to continue to make it a success.

Thanksgiving plans are coming together. Christmas plans are in, well, the planning stage … looks like a road trip to Arid-zona to see the fam, along with bringing bike(s) to work on getting in those extra miles over my break and get started on 2010; then on to Los Angeles to see some friends I haven’t seen in about 7 years and maybe a couple of rides up the Malibu coastline … then back to the 801 for New Year’s (although I won’t be doing anything for NYE itself, most likely), and the Last Call Cyclocross Race & Party to close out the UTCX season.

Life is good. It could be better, but it’s been a whole lot worse, and I seem to be turning another corner. I’m looking forward to the next steps in the journey.

First race of the season is in the bag, and here are my takeaways.

I like USAC Officials a whole lot better when they are not wearing the khakis and blue and in “must enforce everything in the rulebook to the letter” mode … cyclocross in Utah is about having a good time, which is why we don’t get permitted by the USCF.

Another takeaway? Start letting the next race have a look at the course as soon as the the leaders cross the finish line. We had at least two women miss the start of their race on Saturday due to the compressed time between races. Now … one thing to keep in mind is that we started all races on time, and it is the racer’s responsibility to be at the start line when their race begins, but the least we can do is give riders more of an opportunity to see the course before their event.

Finally … we had one bad experience on Saturday … during the women’s race, a junior woman who was also entered in the women’s C race was screamed at by an A racer to get off the course. The junior did get off the course, in full waterworks.

I’ve heard a couple different rumors as who the offending A rider was, but without any evidence, there’s not much that can be done about it. But please rest assured that this type of behavior is absolutely unacceptable at the Utah Cyclocross Series, and if it happens again and I hear about it, I will do my best to have Matt disqualify the offender from the remainder of the series, with no refund … and I don’t care who it is, friend or not. Riders should be encouraging the women in the lower categories, especially the youngsters, rather than screaming at them to get off the course.

Your thoughts?

Latest news from Indohran with the tentative schedule for the 2009 Utah Cyclocross Series.
 

UTCX #1	10/03/2009	Fort Buenaventura (Ogden)
UTCX #2	10/10/2009	Weber County Fairgrounds (Ogden)
UTCX #3	10/17/2009	Wasatch County Fairgrounds (Heber)
UTCX #4	10/24/2009	Draper Venue TBA
UTCX #5	10/31/2009	Halloween Cross Double Weekend, Wheeler Farm (Murray)
UTCX #6	11/01/2009	Halloween Cross Double Weekend, Wheeler Farm (Murray)
UTCX #7	11/07/2009	Weber County Fairgrounds (Ogden)
UTCX #8	11/21/2009	State Championships, Wasatch County Fairgrounds (Heber)
UTCX #9	11/22/2009	Wheeler Farm (Murray)
UTCX #10	11/28/2009	Draper Venue TBA
UTCX #11	12/05/2009	Fort Buenaventura (Ogden)
Non-series Race	01/02/2010	Last Call Cyclocross, Wheeler Farm (Murray)

 
Dates are set (unless they change). Venues are subject to change (unless they don’t).

I have published downloadable or iCal subscribe-able calendars of all the Utah cycling events I’ve been able to find, and plan to keep it updated as more events are scheduled.

• Utah Cycling Association (UCA) Races: Subscribe | Download (.ics)
• Intermountain Cup (MTB) Races: Subscribe | Download (.ics)
• Utah Cyclocross Series: Subscribe | Download (.ics)
• Full Utah Cycling Calendar: Subscribe | Download (.ics) (includes all of the above calendars)

Also available in the sidebar to the right.

Does anyone else find it ironic that USA Cycling charges people $35.00 for the “privilege” of sitting on a start or finish line and listening to people complain, for pay that is barely above minimum wage, and forces them to wear a uniform at the same time?

No wonder most of the local associations are constantly trying to get more people to get officials licenses … it can be a shitty job.

One of the things I’ve really enjoyed about officiating the Utah Cyclocross Series over the past few years is that for the most part, riders are just out to have a good time … sure, there is some competition, but it’s mostly just about having some fun after the road and/or MTB seasons have ended, and ski season gets into full swing.

For the second year in a row, I’m getting my officials license to work some of the the local road races … I’m planning on primarily focusing on the hill climbs, which if my experience in 2008 holds, will be fairly easy to judge, especially now that the UCA is going to a chip-timing system.

I refuse to wear the uniform, though …