Epic Racing around the World

From our reporter in the Tundra, Bart Gillespie.

Lebanon, Kansas, is the geographical center of America.

However, for American cyclocross geeks around the US, the center of the Universe was only a few hours east in Kansas City - the US Cyclocross National Championships were in town.

‘Cross is a winter sport and “winter sport” in cycling is code for we love bad weather…7 days before race weekend everyone was screaming heresy as the weather prognosticators were calling for sunny skies and dry ground. 5 days out everyone got what they wished for (feared) and ice and snow blanketed the mid-west, Kansas City included. I’ll recommend right now a national championship race promoter’s jersey to the KC crew for pulling off an event of this caliber while many of the surrounding communities were doing well to have power to many of their residents.

The Junior racers kicked the racing off on Friday and MonaVie/Cannondale rider Connor O’Leary used his impressive muddin’ skills to put in a solid 11th place finish. Overnight the temps dropped and the snow continued…producing a rutted tundra race course for the racers to enjoy on Saturday.

Mitchel Petersen, of the Utah famed Thin and Thinner brotherly duo, competed in the U23 race. The U23 event carried additional weight over simply being the national championship event, it also served to pick the last remaining spot on the U23 World Championship squad.

A rail thin climber, Mitchel struggled and suffered in the sub-freezing temps and was a little disappointed in his result but was quickly reminded that you can’t win them all. We’ll have to ask him next week when he’s in the middle of the US team’s Christmas cyclocross camp in Europe - which is worse: racing with your legs and fingers frozen in Kansas, or bleeding through your eyes in 73rd place while battling 200 Belgians?

Master’s racer and Utah scene regular Art O’Connor was next to do battle. Old guys are all the rage in cycling these days, and ‘cross is no exception - 100 other 40-45 year old pinned a number on with the hopes of bringing home some glory and a good story or two back to the office or Lazy Boy recliner. If you know Art, then you know that everything is left out on the course, and heck, he probably barters a little extra off the guys around him. “Come on man, I need a little more suffering ability. Catch ya on the back side, you know, during the road season?”

I’m certain Art was the tallest guy in his field, and when you’re racing a bike on ice and snow, that’s the furthest to fall. Maybe it was motivation, or fear crashing from orbit at 6′6″, but Art kept it upright the entire race and powered to a solid top 10 finish, all while growing an otter pop on his beard!

Rookie ‘cross racer and the ever enthusiastic Rachel Cieslewicz lined up number #93 of 99 elite women on Sunday and used her “triathlete bike handling skills” to show a good majority of the gals how it’s done in the snow and ice. She will certainly be back for more next year.

After waiting around for what seemed like weeks in the cold, I finally got to race my bike in Kansas, too.

The elite men’s race is always last and gives you plenty of time to stew over equipment choices, strategy, weather conditions, fitness, and everything else the mind finds in an attempt to skew your choices and confidence. With the ice, snow, and technical conditions I felt a good result was possible and an entertaining ride would be had, regardless. Because I didn’t make many of UCI cyclocross races this year my starting position was on the 5th row. Not exactly the nose bleed section (there were 170 riders registered!), but leaving about 40 guys between me and the front row.

To make a short story even shorter, the race went well. I crashed 3 times, went into the pits 1 time for a clean Cannondale, bunny hopped 1 fallen rider, and finished my best ever national cyclocross championships in 7th place. Who says age and responsibility slow a guy down? I think its the mud masks that keep us riding (and looking) so young.

A big thanks to all the sponsors that make racing experiences and performances like this possible.

As always, the Cannondale bikes rode flawlessly and it is no surprise that Tim Johnson won on the same bike. Our Reynolds carbon wheels are solid it takes more than a frozen ruts, icy mud, and slushy slop to slow these wheels down. The Crank Brothers Eggbeater pedals are mandatory in this kind of mud and ice. Ergon gloves…kept my hands free to run the controls. Mona Vie helped keep me stay healthy and fit throughout a long season and able to arrive at the

After the race, while on the shuttle ride to the airport, I ran into a gentlemen who had recently started using Mona Vie. He vividly explained to me how when he starts coming down with something he takes a few extra ounces of MonaVie/day to make sure his nutrients and antioxidants are topped off and now seldom gets sick. I told him he was preaching to the choir and introduced him to the portable gel packs that I use when traveling to races, he was pumped!

What a perfect end to a great weekend and great season racing bicycles while fueled by Acai.