TJ Woodruff ONLINE

Yesterday I got back to the AZ Cross scene for the first time since last year. Being that it was the last race of the series before the state race, I figured it would be a fun practice of the skills and a chance to catch up with regulars once again. It’s fun, low-key scene, but the racing is always exiting.  After having done El Tour the day prior I wasn’t quite sure about how my legs would be with five hours of Tempo in them. I’ve learned that it really doesn’t matter how you feel going into a race, rather it’s all about your perception and the expectations you bring to the starting line. If you tell yourself that your tired it makes for an easy excuse to have a bad race. I like to have fun on the bike, keep positive and race hard. Usually the harder the race the better since this makes it easy to keep focused.  This is exactly what I got.  

We raced for twelve laps and on the eighth I flatted my front tire (something sharp in a smooth grassy section of the course, gotta love phoenix parks…) At that point I had a comfortable, but only ten second gap over second rider and third and fourth weren’t much further behind. I was able to cautiously ride the flat straight sections only to run all the corners or changes in elevation.  I got passed shortly before pit then once Dan helped me get a wheel in, Kyle and Cam had just charged by. So from fourth the chase was on and I had four laps to make up my 30 second stop, plus whatever was lost by slower lap with the flat. The gap was decreasing all the while to the lead and eventually I made my back to the front with about a lap and a half to go. The effort required was sizable, especially after all of the extra running prior to the wheel change.  The racing was full speed the entire time so the win was a great reward.   Dan was directly responsible since it was his spare wheel that made the chase back to the front possible.  Thanks! Also, the REI guy doing tech support helped me complete my new brake setup earlier in the day, fitting some proper straddle cables to the Paul Neo-Retros.  As setup, they have similar power to my old Avid’s, much better modulation, much more clearance, and they look very clean on the bike.  Things ought to be set for the state championship which is just less than two weeks away.

Since a once a week blog update tends to be the norm here, I figured adding a new feature could help things out and add some life to site. I’ve added the twitter application so now you’ll find mini-feeds at the top of the right column.  I’ll leave snippets regarding my day to day there so check back whenever you might want to catch the latest bit.

Later,  -TJ

Keeping roadies off my tail at the finish. Photo from Superfly.

Having never done the Iceman before I really felt that it was time to give it a shot. The travels from Tucson were long, but time spent with good friends was well worth it. On Friday I opted to do a preride of the full course figuring that it would be better to know what to anticipate on race day. The course was straight-forward and I was thinking optimistically about the forecast.  Saturday came quickly and I helped with some shuttling for the early races.  Thanks to Jason Lummis of Bells Beer I didn’t have to mess with my bike on race day after cracking the derailleur cage on the Friday preride. With his help I had a loaner installed and ready to go just hours after busting my own. That sort of help really goes a long ways.

I got in a warm up with Iceman veteran Brian and we rode the first couple miles of the trail. His advice that it was all about the first ten minutes proved to right on. The only problem was that I messed up my line about a mile into the race and went from fourth wheel back to twenty-forth wheel in a matter of five seconds. Getting bogged down on a sandy climb before things had stretched out didn’t fit well with the race strategy, but I was determined to keep at it and try to reclaim lost ground. The single file train began to splinter and I wasn’t able to pass guys since I was already at my limit and doing so would have required a big effort.

Eventually I got a rhythm going to finish 17th, but it was a bummer never really being in contention with the leaders.  I enjoyed the race and I pushed it 100% so I’m pleased with the result. Next time I’ll come back equally or better prepared and will know just what to expect in those first ten minutes. I can honestly say that it seemed to be the most intense start of any race I’ve done to date. The competition was great.

 The ice pellets that fell during the race really completed the Iceman experience. Though it wasn’t a third podium in my third triple crown event of the year, I’ll be able to give it another shot in ‘09.  It seems that I brought some (not much really) of the cooler weather back with me.  Afternoon highs have been sunny and 70’s since I’ve been back. Change is always appreciated.  

I’ll wrap this post up with some pics.  -TJ 

Superfan!

race-ready. (ok, really it didn’t snow until Sunday)

JB lovin’ the Ice trophy. And for good reason – it’s super cool!

I’m set to soon leave for the lands of cold weather and gloomy skies.  See you all in Michigan.

 Life’s been happening at record speed lately and blog action has been lacking. There’s been little break with anything else and the riding has been good.  I’m feeling ready to rip one final time on the midwest MTB scene. It ought to be a good one. I’ll have a recap on Monday so check out the details then.

-TJ