WOW!! This is Too Funny!!!

holy shit, Batman.....this is too funny!  check out this site cx babies blogsite.  Sounds like the 4's field will be getting a little competition.  Maybe we need to have promoters reinstate a clydesdale category for all the fattys out there that would rather whine than complain??  just an idea...

blog war and sandbagging B.S.

here is a response or a letter from Bill Marshall coming to defense of a couple of guys....namely me and Mark Cole of a b.s. blogsite of a fat noncompetitive  pussies calling supposed 'sandbaggers' out....

Thanks Bill.  Well said.  I could not come up with the words that you wrote, but it summed up my frustrated feelings over the jackass who 3 months belatedly called me out.

Here u go...wait...here is the jackasses blog that i am referring to....r5 or http://sandbaggerkc.blogspot.com/.  apparently this guy is the authority or the 'judge, jury and executioner' of calling out sandbaggers....without anyone knowing who he is.....F@#%ING PUSSY!


Below is what I posted on the Sandbagger blog site. Who the fuck is this pussy? Forward it to Mark Cole.

I have to say who ever started this joke of a blog has no clue what it actually takes to race at the next level or even at a Category 3 level for that matter.  Just because someone is winning a few local races doesn't justify calling them a sandbagger or needing to upgrade. For any Category 3 rider to upgrade they obviously need the required points but, they also need to display complete dominance at every single race they do. Winning every time and absolutely crushing the competition. Then, they should upgrade to a Category 2. Once that is done welcome to hell. It's an entirely different world of racing and training. Even at a local level it’s a whole new ball game and the roles are reversed unless the rider is a truly gifted athlete. I've read many comments about Josh Taylor or Mark Cole needing to upgrade because they are winning races left and right etc. Well, that's at a local level and they are doing quite well for themselves. But, if they (or any other local Cat 3 legend) were to race regionally or nationally they would get their asses handed to them. That is until they gained the valuable experience of racing at that level. Many local cyclist can't lead the lifestyle to gain that experience of doing UCI races, USGP's or traveling to Nationals every year. Have you ever thought of that? I know for a fact both of these riders work hard at training, racing, being parents and working full time jobs. Did you ever think that their commitments outside the sport don’t allow them to train and race at a higher level? Maybe their commitments outside the sport don’t allow them to even do so at a local level? All of those are factors for any cyclist who is going to upgrade to the next level. It takes no less than 15 hours a week of hardcore training just to compete locally at that level. Do you have the time to do that plus the outside commitments? The way I see it is your complaining about these guys needing to upgrade because you're personally tired of getting your teeth kicked in all of the time. Word from the wise and I've seen this a lot in the past 25 years or racing. Come out from behind the comfort of your keyboard, stop letting your fingers do the talking and let your bike racing do the talking. Until you can actually come out and compete toe-to-toe with your peers every weekend shut your pie hole, train your ass off and show them what you’re made of. Your comments make you out to be a coward and someone who isn’t willing to dedicate yourself to training and racing. One last thing... I find it amazing that anyone actually has the balls to post anything on a blog (positive or negative) without stating their real name. If you have something to say, say it openly and quit being a coward. What are you afraid of? Are you scared at the next race the entire cycling community will gang up you and drop you like a bad habit? I’m guessing so. Sack up and quit hiding behind your keyboards. BTW.... HTFU

Bill Marshall
Team Director/Founder
KCCX/VERGE Elite Cyclocross Team.


thanks bill!!

The 2009 Cross Season is a Wrap......

I got some pics of Saturdays Epic Cx Race. Jacob Pitt...putting it to the 'old' guys!

The last pics are of my Element towing my friends 4-wheeler. I have towed 1900 lbs of concrete with that car as well.

A Big Exhale..................The 2009 cyclocross season went a week longer than the previous year and even started a week earlier as well. That being said, i think i had 2 or 3 more races left in the legs and brain. Oh well. I am still looking to unwind a bit. Mentally, almost 4 months of staying motivated and on top of the racing and recovering properly wears on you. I think figuring that out this year and with the previous 3 or 4 years of cx helped me to finish with some strong results this year during the last few weeks of racing.

This past Saturdays' race was located up north of Kansas City in Parkville, MO. the course was again set up on the property where the sponsor, Epic Bike Shop is located.
I spent Tuesday and Wednesday before the race working to get the course prepped and rideable to race on Saturday. The greenspace where the course was to be set up was actually under almost a foot of snow with 2 and 3 foot drifts as of Tuesday. Friend and Slimen teammate Joe Houston and I headed up to Parkville Tuesday morning to see if we could help promoter Mark Thomas. I was actually able to borrow a 4-wheeler with a snow blade from a friend...Thanks Jeff!! The thought was, with the ATV, that the time to clear the snow from the course would
only take a couple of hours. Were we way off. about 7 hours of shoveling be 3 or 4 of us as well as the use of the atv, and still we had work to do with ice removal from paved areas of the course on race morning. Thanks Roger! So a couple of hours on Tuesday and again on Wednesday afternoon with the ATV and some warmer temps on wednesday and Thursday started to turn our race course into a swamp......maybe we shouldnt have removed so much snow??

We had to, we couldnt count on so much snow melt. By Friday morning though, the temps had stalled at about 29-32 degrees with overcast foggy conditions. Late Thursday nite and Friday morning the temps had dropped to the low 20's and refrozen our course back up. This kept the course somewhat firm and icy in most places, with a little half frozen standing water in a couple of places on Friday around noon. The forecast for raceday was more of the same. Freezing temps overnite and overcast foggy conditions thru till early afternoon. So we were hoping for a mostly frozen course instead of a 6 inch deap ice cold swamp to race on.
I arrived at the race parking lot at around 9:45 am with my race starting at 11am. plenty of time to get dressed properly and get a good warm-up. With both bikes dialed and ready to go, i got out on the course to pre-ride and warm-up a little. I found the conditions of the course a little sloppier than the previous day but still not thawed out. Some scetchy icy spots with some muddy soft spots mixed in with some snowy areas. The sand vollyball court still was fairly firm due to the cold so these 2 sections were still rideable. I am sure the whole course would ride and change completely over the course of 45 minutes of racers riding warm-ups and another 45 minutes of racing on it. By the end of the day, the last couple of races, racers would be in a virtual mudpit. I was glad to be racing first. The faster and icy the more fun i would have and the better chance off a good result as well.

So with the call-ups at 10 minutes before race time, I was on the front row. I was 4th in the overall and really no shot of catching 2nd and 3rd. I needed a miracle with both Andy Lucas and Steve Songer not finishing the race. I had no points in an early race in the series due to sandbagging and racing and winning the 3's race at the first race of the year. I however had 4th locked up with noone being able to catch me as long as i finished. 14 racers lined up for the Master's 40+ 'A' race. Not a great turn-out, but expected due to a long cx season and the not so great weather. Also, i honestly question the 'man-hood' of a lot of our regions cyclists who say they race.....WHATEVER....... thats a different topic for a different day. Not all are 'man' enough or tough enough to race cx in January here in the midwest. I guess the 'roadies' need their rest and have to get in their 'bases' so they can be 'peaking' for the 'all important' Spring-Flings in Lawrence here in a month or so. Those guys really find that the March racing is essential to a 'great' season on the Road..........whatever....enjoy your rest, Pussies!

So roll call and callups are done. Officials give their speal and within seconds, they blow the whistle. I get a good start, and am side by side with Studnicki, sitting just behind Lucas(who got his usual 2 plus second head-start). Before we get to the hard laeft that takes us to the pavement, I yield to Mark and tell him to get on Lucas' wheel. I didnt need to throw elbows witha friend and a guy who is stronger than me, and i didnt want to be responsible fro taking either one of us out. I would settle for 3rd wheel behind the 2 leaders gladly. Once on the pavement, Songer and Houston came barreling by me. I was a little cautious on the pavement, i just felt like at anytime, any of us could lay it down on the slick asphalt. So no need to push it too hard until we got to the grass again. Thats when i realized I could have a problem, cuz the next section was soft and slow due to the mud and water. Joe was already bogging down a little and struggling to maintain the front 3's wheels. Fortunately, joe laid it down in front of me and i was able to avoid him and a few turns later i was back on the 360 + Studnicki train. It took just a few turns and the 4 of us had a significant and permanent gap over the rest of the 40+ racers. Now I just had to race my race and keep it upright......half way thru Lap one, It was Lucas, Studnicki, Songer and me in that order. I was actually comfortable and not over doing it. The course conditions were such that the 3 strong guys couldnt put the hammer down due to the icw and snow. Yes, ice and snow are my friends. With the 4 of us heading thru a soupy slow section and towards the 500 meter pavement section, Andy and Mark get a little gap on me and Steve. Steve has difficulty clearing a tough section that i ride cleanly. I am first to the pavement but was slowwed a little by steve. Andy and Mark are probably 5 seconds up the road. At this time, Andy is getting ready to enter into a snowy switchback section but catches a patch of ice on the pavement, and goes down hard. Mark narrowly misses bashing into Andy and his bike. Songer is now back on my wheel as we roll by Andy who is trying to get back on his back. Its now Mark all alone with maybe a 6-8 second gap on me and Steve. For the next 2 laps, Steve and I take turns gapping each other or just riding on the others wheel. Mostly though, its me sitting on Steve's wheel. I am riding comfortably and smoothly at this point. On maybe lap 3 thru the first sand section and making a right turn, Songer and I are trying to pass a lapped rider. Steve catches a rut and goes down. I bang right into the back of his bike and half fall off of mine. I am back up and going fairly quickly, but Steve is slow to get going. Steve is trying to get is rear wheel to roll seeing as how I crashed hard into it. Oh well, I empathize, but that is racing. Steve had mechanical issues of some sort the last 3 races of the year. I had the majority of mine early and often during the season. So for the next 4 or 5 laps and the remainder of the race, it was just trying to hold off the 360 duo of Andy and Steve. It was nerve wracking having those fast guys chasing me down, but i rode pretty smartly. A couple of bobbles on the last couple of laps, but nothing more than anybody else behind me. Steve at one point got to within maybe 10 seconds of me, but he went down at some point trying to be aggressive and close the gap down. I actually managed to finish within maybe 35 to 45 seconds of Mark in the end, but I know he was just managing his effort on not really drilling it. But it was still second place for me, and I had beaten both Andy and Steve of 360racing. those 2 SOB's are fast. Until a couple of weeks ago, I had never beaten Steve and it had been a couple of seasons since i caught Andy on an 'off' day and beat him. On Saturday i finished in front of both of them. This is significant for me, because I am always measuring myself with these guys. I dont have their horsepower or fitness, but on the right course and me racing within myself I held my own with them. And that sums up the last 3 weeks of racing for me. Smart, comsistent racing during the last 3 races got me 3 good results and allowed me to beat some fast dudes. From my current Slimen teammate Jeff Unruh to my former 360 teammates, racing wheel to wheel with those guys and coming out on top from time to time is what keeps me motivated for cx. I love racing against guys i respect and that i am friends with off the bike.

Knowing Andy, I am sure he is pissed and will be gunning to drop my ass at the next mtb race or the next cx race we line up together. But fortunately for me, there is a good chance we wont be racing in the same age group:) Or maybe we will. so I will be ready for Andy to drill it off the start line, and i am sure I will be hanging on for dear life......but hell, thats half the fun of cx, getting your ass handed to you by the 'fast' guys. That's what makes you faster!

so all of you cx posers.....remember that! Good Luck at the Spring Flings! the 'real men' and 'tough guys' will probably be racing our mtb's.

Next cx race....09/18/10................just around the corner

shovelin' snow and new blogs..

So the 2010 SlimenUndGrossen cycling Team roster is set, clothing is ordered......but there is still some cross racing to finish up. Spent a few hours the last couple days helping Mark Thomas and Joe Houston getting the Epic Cross Course set up. Which means tons of snow removal by hand and with a 4-wheeler with a snow blade. Still very hard work. Course conditions are going to change hourly with forcast of rain and warmer temps over next couple of days before saturdays race. Mark could still use lots of help. Also, I have been working on a new Slimen Team blog...check it out!....slimenracing.blogspot.com.

check out the blog and hope to see everyone to race the last cx race for the next 8 months.

BE THERE!

'Crossin' Off the Old Year' with some frigid cold and white stuff

The pics seen here are courtesy of Roger of Lanterne Rouge Cycling. They were taken this past Thursday on the New Year's Eve 'Cross off the Old Year' race held at Stump Park in Shawnee, KS.

A shout out goes to Mark and Teresa of Local Cycling and all the others that help get the race off the ground this year. 8+ inches of snow and some lots of ice thrown in made getting a course set up extremely difficult for the promoter and designer Mark Thomas. Thanks Mark. Thursday morning saw temps in the single digits and with very little improvement in sight. So getting motivated to get going and get out to the course would prove to be the biggest challenge of the day for me. I find that once i get out to the course and get some kind of warm up in, then i am 'good to go' and ready to race. That proved to be the case on thursday morning. My wife was coming off a 12 hour nite shift at the hospital so getting out to the race 2 hours early proved to be impossible. With race time at 1 pm, i was able to pull into the parking lot of stump park at around 11:40 or so. But, lately with the cold weather and my inability to get to the course as early as I would like, I have been dressed and 'pinned' with race # at home prior to driving to the race. Saves me about 30 minutes of prep time and allows me to make changes in layering on the really cold days as needed. I hate scrambling and hurrying prior to race time. The thing that suffers the most when that happens is my warm-up gets shortened or just plain non-existent. And with the bitter cold conditions, its tough mentally to get a good warm-up in anyway.

I was able to get a good warm-up in on the course before race time. The 1 pm races were the first ones of the day. Late starts and shortened races to hopefully make it atractive to racers to skip out of work early and compete in epic 'cx' conditions on New Years' Eve. Thursdays' course consisted of a course which 95 % of was covered in snow and/or ice. The course was shortened due to lots of ice on a long pavement section. So the race track consisted of a narrow paved start/finish area which led to 2 soggy off-camber sections tied together into a short & slick but grinding climb that led the racers to a icey rutted fairly fast and long downhill section that had a lot of racers on edge. Most didnt feel comfortable letting go of the brakes and just bombing on this scetchy downhill. The downhill led into a slow grinding soft snow section which the racer had to work hard to maintain any of the momentum he/she just built up from the downhill.

From this flat slow section the racers turn right down into a little ravine that had hay bales laid out as our only barrier on the course. Running back out of the ditch the racers were back on their bikes trying to get back up to speed thru a ice rutted slow section which headed back towards the start area and the wheel pit. The racers headed back away from the wheel pit and navigated around a softball field on a soft and slowly melting but snow and rut covered section. on the oppisite side of the softball fields the racers had a decision to make as to run or try to ride a iced and rutted out 500 meters section of covered pavement. this section was basically a swection of landmines of covered soft snow holes, slick ice hidden under a couple of inches of snow and a very narrow line that the racer had to navigate thru all of these holes and slick little areas. I of course tried to ride it every time and thru 5 laps of racing I only rode this section cleanly once, and even that '1' time is debatable. I continually had little foot dabs or 'almost' wipe-out mistakes thru this section. It didnt cost anymore than the guys behind me, but it allowed the 2nd place racer, Jeff Unruh who ran it every time, to maintain or put time on me. His decision to run it allowed him to be more consistent then me and my choice to try to ride it everytime. This tricky section was last section which led the racers back thru the start/finish area.

The Master's 'A' 40+ raced for 30 minutes which turned out to be 5 painful laps. A decent start had me 5th wheel going into the snow covered grass and off-camber section. Matt Eastlack and I avoided running into and over John Pahlman who was 3rd wheel at the time of his wipe-out on the slick off camber grass. From there matt and I passed Steve Songer who had 'endo'd and dropped a chain at a muddy ditch crossing. Steve also dropped a chain which cost him tons of time.
So from early in lap one thru the last of lap five, I was yo-yoing off of Jeff Unruh wheel. On lap four I made a huge effort and attacked him on the downhill. I got by him and began to pass a lapped rider when i caught an icey rut at about 25 mph. Fortunately me and my bike went flying together so i didn't have far to go to get my bike and get going again.....I gained contact with jeff late in lap 4 only to see him attack me at the start of the bell lap. Regained his wheel on the downhill but could never find the strength to do anything other than sit on his wheel. Once we hit the last icy straight away, he had more power than me. So Studnicki Finished first, Jeff 2nd and myself 3rd. Songer made a valient effort after his mechanical issues and finished 4th.

The importance of the 2 guys in front of me are they are my new teammates for 2010. I am rejoining SlimenUndGrossen racing after the last couple with 360Racing. Gonna be a fun year I think. My new teammates are really old teammates because I started riding and racing with these guys about 5 or 6 years ago.

2 races races to go before we shut the doors on the 2009/10 cross campaign. 2009 saw me win
the Boss Cross Master's 35+ 'A' category, which means I will be racing for free in that series again next season. I won the Cat 3 Boss Cross series last year and raced for free in this years series. That free entry helps alot. The last 2 races of the year are apart of the Series60 cross series. The standings for that series are locked up as far as the top 2 spots. Mark Studnicki has got a commanding lead over 360 racer Steve Songer. I am currently in 4th, 10 or so points behind 360 rider Andy Lucas. The only way I will catch Andy is if he doesnt race one of the last 2 races. He in fact raced the elite race on Thursday, which allowed me to gain valuable points on him anyway. So hopefully I can finish strong over the next couple of weeks with a couple of more podiums and finish 3rd or 4th in the overall in the Series60 competition. Hopefull these last couple of races will have some more snow and ice and just all around 'fun' conditions.

See yah at the races!