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  [credit: Jose Martinez (left) and Katie Busick (right)] Photos: by Jeff - of Jeff | Video: Beginner Lap 1 | Strava | Results | My CX History The Ice Weasels Cometh Great start, took advantage of wide open space on the left [00:00-00:40 in lap 1 video above], caught up to Heath/Eric [00:40-01:40]. Poor post-barriers technique, knocked the chain off, lost 30 seconds and a LOT of positions [01:40-02:10]. Hop on Troy Kenyon's wheel, dispatch Troy with some dubious passes [02:10-03:05]. Single file doesn't necessarily mean single file. MAGIC HAPPENS. My best 30 seconds of CX ever [03:05-03:35]. I went on to battle Tom Pincince. Lifetime, I've been 0 and everything against Tom in sanctioned events. We traded spots several times. In general, I was a bit faster on the 1 mile of wooded sections (where I could employ the Force, which was particularly strong in the Belgian Woods; see his account below) while he was faster on the 0.6 miles of grass (where he could employ his superior power and FAR superior power-to-weight). In the end, mostly by virtue of the finish coming BEFORE the soul-sapping grass power section, I held him off. Here's Tom commenting on the Belgian Woods. Remember that part of the Ice Weasels course where you had a left/right choice of path through an almost pump track that led to a downhill? The right track was a bit longer, but set you up better for the descent.For some reason, off the bike, I'm faster than people who should be faster than me. I finally figured it out. I've been running slow my whole life--I'm good at it. Fast runners just don't do well running slow. 47/86, about as close to the top half of a race as I've ever come (55% back). Given the added bottleneck my chain drop subjected me to, I could possibly have finished 43rd or better (43rd was 60 seconds ahead of me), which would have snuck me in the top 50%. Congrats to the team--big showing: 7. Jim Godbey 11. David Waltz 17. Jason Carleton (STBG) 20. Heath Umbach 27. George Piepgras (son of Digital Lumens' Colin Piepgras) 33. Eric Poch 39. Jeff Cardini 48. Jeff Dieffenbach 52. Tom Pincince 54. Tim Daley (mechanical) 62. Todd Kenyon 67. David Goldberg 68. Troy Kenyon (ooh, some tension in the Kenyon clan ...) 70. Max Grinberg 72. Dan Sullivan I earned an impressive (for me) 584 Cross Points (CXP) in yesterday's Beginner Men race at Ice Weasels. That's one of my best-ever Cat 4/5 results. In the afternoon fat bike race, I planned to keep it tame with Bandit 3 hovering the next day. We lined up with the male single-speeders first (95 entries), the female single-speeders second (17), and the fat bikers third (32, including 2 women). The men went off first. A minute later, the women followed. Another minute and it was our turn. I was off the back before we left the grass starting loop. Just past the barriers, I picked up my first hand-up, a 16 oz Boom Sauce. Shortly thereafter, I caught up to the two women fat bikers. And not too long after that, we started to pick off some of the slower female single-speeders. In the Danger Zone, I picked up a 12 oz Harpoon IPA. Warm, but hey, whatever. Not sure where I finished my first lap, maybe a woman or two behind me. I debated pulling the plug at that point, but then I thought, "If I go back through the Danger Zone, I get more beer." Part way there, I started getting lapped by the lead male single-speeders. Danger Zone. Another Harpoon IPA. Colder this time. Well, okay, cooler. Back up the granite steps, over the low barriers, slow to a halt at the finish line. "DNF," I call out, and swing off the course. Mission accomplished, two easy laps done, no (additional) harm to my Bandit campaign. Turns out, we received CXP for the fat bike race--I had not idea. But since I "earned" 516 for finishing 23 of 25, I'm not complaining. Because that's my second best CXP ever. Undeserved, but best ever. |
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DIEFFENBACH CROSS RESULTS 2015 RESULTS
*Metrics not included in running total; lesser of two races in a day excluded 2014 RESULTS
2013 RESULTS
2012 RESULTS
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