Crohn's Crash and Burn

Photo's courtesy of the Jackal.

Last Tuesday I rode the Mongoose over to Greenwood Park to do the renegade cross practice race with the intent on getting a really good high intensity workout in. I left with three things: the satisfaction of getting a great workout in, confirmation that my body has a strong disliking for running, and a very sore groin. I had planned to do the Cross Out Crohn’s race the following weekend, however my groin soreness (most likely from all of the jumping on and off of my bike) had me concerned that I might jeopardize my performance at my last mountain bike race the weekend after.
The soreness was gone after a few days and while I was devouring a plate of bacon, eggs and pancakes this morning, I extended my legs for a little stretch in an attempt to make some more room for all of the food I had sitting in front of me. My legs actually felt pretty good and might be up for a little aggression. So I called t-Pod and told him to make sure that he had some room in his truck for a mountain bike.
We arrived in Newton with enough time to get a decent 20 minute warm-up / course recon in. I took a look around to see who the main antagonists were going to be, t-Pod, Eppen, JJ, Olney among a few others. I lined up at the start knowing that I was going to get a great workout in! The race started and I rolled in line somewhere around 4th or 5th wheel behind Chris Hanson. Chris loves to blow his wad early in the race so I let him lead me around for about the first half lap. Eppen shot off the front right away and was quickly opening up a pretty big gap. T-Pod shot by me and went after him.


The 1/2/3 field fixin' to feel the burn.


About halfway into the first lap, I passed Hanson and went after Olney. A couple of laps later, I caught and passed Olney and gradually pulled away. There quite a few corners throughout the course, some of which I had a slight advantage on with fat tires. I tried to take advantage of those sections in an attempt at bridging back up to t-Pod. I could feel my tires doing the two wheel drift through a lot of the corners and my aggression in the corners had finally caught up to me. I got slightly off line through on of the sketchier corners and my front tire washed out on me. I went down in a heap. I picked myself up, did a quick assessment for possible damage to myself and my stead… all was good, so I hopped back on and continued. I kinda took my mishap as a sign that I better back it off a little, before I hit the deck again and do some real damage.


This is what I looked like before I hit the deck.



Oakley Rob unleashing his fury.



I bet you didn't know that Shrek races bikes.


With about 4 or 5 laps to go, I was approaching the faster set of barriers. I unclipped my right foot and lifted my right over my bike. As I began to unclip my left foot for the dismount, my cleat didn’t disengage. I remember having enough time to think about how much things were going suck as I rolled into the barrier. Rather than burying my front tire into the barrier, I opted to lay the bike down instead and did a nice slide into the barrier. As I slid into the barrier, my right IT band / femur slammed into the barrier and knocked it over. It kinda sucked for me, but it was pretty funny for those that saw it! I did another quick assessment of the damage, picked myself up once again and put myself into damage control mode.


I think this is after I hit the deck because I'm not lookin' too good here


Eppen rode away from everybody else like a pro and won. Brutha t-Pod held on for 2nd and I salvaged a hard earned 3rd place for the day. I was pretty happy with the result as I didn’t really care about where I finished. My goal for the day was to get a nice, cross eyed hour long effort in and I definitely achieved that!


The Jackal bringin' home the bacon in the 4's for Rassy's.


Once again, Godfather Marco, Paul Varnum and the MOB crew did a great job in putting together a fun event!

Next up is the WORS season finale on October 12. Then it’s full on beer, pizza, hamburger and French fry season!! Now that the season is drawing to a close, I’m planning to put my 2008 Orbea Orca on the auction block next week. If you’re in the market for like new road bike, shoot me an e-mail (ckirkpatrick@cbi.com) and let me know.


For Sale


I’m also planning to host my 2nd annual women’s only mountain biking clinic on October 18 at the old Science Center of Des Moines. I think it’s going to be a pretty big event this year with lot’s of great sponsors, a ton of free schwag, some free food not to mention that it’s free to all who wish to participate! For more details, visit http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/IORCA/ or the official website of co-host I.O.W.A. at http://www.iowaoutdoorwomen.com.

Thanks for reading,

CK