What a great 2011-2012 Cyclocross Season! Many thanks to our family, sponsors and supporters for making the 2011 a success.  

Faith Watkins Race Report: 

It all started on October 8, 2011 in Mineral Wells, Texas with a race organized by pro-‘cross racer, Bryan Fawley. A little over two months and twenty-three races later, the 2011 Texas cyclocross season concluded this weekend in The Woodlands. 

A rainy forecast preceding Saturday’s skill-based championships had us Texas racers worried it was going to be cold and muddy (gasp!).  But alas, the sun defied all the rain warnings and the day was probably one of the best all season.  I raced the women’s 3/4 race to focus on the Category 4 championship. We had a field of 13 women, which is the biggest field we’ve had all season.  The course was flat and windy with a steep, rutted run-up and a few flat straight-a-ways  I had a great start and had a small gap on the Cat 3 girls who usually beat me when I dropped my chain. Urg.  I was promptly passed by three women and had to gain some time.  I ended up as 1^st overall Cat 4 Texas Champ and 3^rd overall.

The course for the age-based championship race was much different than Saturday’s couarse. We climbed and descended for 45 grueling minutes. This was probably one of my best races all season as I rode hard and learned a lot. I made some mistakes in the first lap which cost me third place but I ended up 4^th overall for Texas women riders and 2^nd in my age group.

I had a really great season and I look forward to riding as a Cat 3 next year. I am so grateful to Austinbikes for all their support. I couldn’t have done with without them and am proud to wear their jersey.  Congratulations to all the racers this year for a great season.

Sean Noonan Race Report:

This week started with the news on Tuesday that Austin is one of three cities with potential bids to host CX Nationals. Competing against somewhere in hillbillyland and Boulder, I think Austin has a pretty good chance.  I was looking forward to the weekend to find out what
was behind the bid and what I could do to help.

The categorized state championships in Houston and the age-based state championships in "The" Woodlands were my final races of the season and it's been a long time coming.  When I heard about the Austinbikes CX team, I figured it was something I had to do, even though I knew I would be burned out by now.  I brought a bunch of fitness from road season and 2 weeks getting killed in Europe but no technical skills to the start of the CX season.  I hadn't raced 'cross since the 2007 season, and it was past time to return to the funnest sport in the galaxy.  While I began losing my fitness at the end of November, I wanted to keep going for the joy of racing.  It's difficult to accept some poor results, but when I go out and ride an awesome course like Richard Moya Park last weekend or yesterday in Houston, it doesn't matter.  Especially now that my technical skills have come around, it's exhilirating to rail corners, off camber hills and slide in the
sand while at 90% of your heart rate max.

Saturday in Houston really was perfect for a Texas cyclocross state
championship.  It had all the elements of a good CX course, plus the
sandy 180 degree corners so common in Texas that I loathe.  Some of
the course through the woods really flowed, and the sidewalk, run-up
and grass sections really made sure you had fitness rather than just
technical skills in Texas' loose dirt.  As I said above, I knew my
fitness was bad but I really forced myself to suffer the whole race
and thought I finished OK  (somewhere near the back I'm sure, I
haven't looked at any results).  Rolando came through as a savior
handing me a beer on the last lap.  A bit of hydration and
carbohydrate to catch one more guy before the finish line.  Not to
mention an attempt to entertain the spectators!

Sunday in "The" Woodlands was just as hard as athletically, but not as
fun.  An aside: who really names their town with a "The"?  I mean,
clowns say "the vineyard" but it doesn't say that on a map!  Mikey and
Grace were nice enough to host Rolando and I in Shenandoah, a suburb
of the Houston suburb that is "The" Woodlands.  Walking around "The"
Woodlands last night felt like I was living in a mall.  Anyway, back
to racing.  The course was in a park in "The" Woodlands that was
actually pretty sweet.  Somehow they built some hills.  But the course
was all grass, which meant you had to keep the power on the whole
time.  It really took a lot out of everyone.  After some weird false
start, the race was off and I was in the back of both the 19-29 and
30-39 categories due to my well-planned day-of registration.  That
meant a ton of riders to try and get around.  They used every square
inch of that park, so with so many corners it was very difficult to
pass, but you could do it.  I had to chop a couple of people, but
eventually made my way up to my rightful place somewhere near the back
of most of the cat1-2 riders.  I was racing with 3-4 guys at the time,
but dropped my chain 2 laps in a row on a bumpy descent.  Both times I
came back and when I attacked I ended up sliding out on a sharp tacky
turn before the barriers.  If i'm good at riding anything, it's tacky
corners, so that was pretty embarrassing.  Getting going again, all of
that took a bit out of me and I ended up unable to beat a couple of
the guys ahead of me.

It was a great end to the season---without much fitness I suffered on
some really fun courses and kept the cyclocross bug alive in Texas.
Now there are youtubes of me falling on my face in a puddle in Mineral
Wells and pounding a NXNW beer at the top of a run-up in
Fredericksburg.  I've got my fill.  Here's to the end of the season
(and to Dear Leader Kim, who apparently kicked the bucket while I was
writing this).  Now it's time to rest, relax, and think about racing
in 2013.  Or better yet, how we can bring CX nationals to Austin in
2014-15.

There are a number of great reasons to do this, all of which I'm sure
you'll hear soon if you didn't think of them already while scrolling
through this boring post.  So let me focus on some personal experience
for why Austin makes since as a January national championship.  I went
to my first nationals in Providence in 2005 racing collegiate and
U-23.  I went again to Providence in 2006, then Kansas city in 2007
(my last 'cross race before racing for Austinbikes this year).  I've
raced cross in Boulder, the Northeast, and done that nationals course
in Kansas City maybe 6 times. No, I don't have the kind of cyclocross
experience that many older and better riders do (coughtilfordcough

The Providence course was absolutely awesome both years, but the
weather absolutely sucked in mid-December.  In Kansas the thing turned
to icy ruts.  Boulder's pretty cool, but in January? Many of the races
in the last half-decade have been in pretty bleak weather conditions
and I would be surprised if Madison (a great town, but again, in
January?) is much different.  Without all the equipment they have in
belgium to make the courses (it looks like they groom the snow or
shovel it in some of these), it means only the hardest of hardcore
riders really want to race.  I like that about cyclocross, but I also
want to see the sport continue it's outstanding growth of the last
decade.

I know, I know, cyclocross is supposed to be hard and muddy.  It is
supposed to be the worst conditions possible.  Yeah, you're right, and
let me tell you I've been thinking that this whole fall while racing
in Texas.  One race in Mineral wells was pretty epic, but the rest of
the ones I've done have just been hard, not epic.  Except one--I went
back to Iowa for one race of Jingle-cross this year.  It's a UCI race
and it rained, poured and was around 40 degrees all weekend. It was
great to be racing back 'home' and sliding around in the mud, but man
that was hard.  After that one race, and all the work cleaning my
bike, I was satisifed with the amount of mud I rode this year.  So
think about it this way, from my experience racing in the midwest,
there are at least 4-6 races a year that are epic like that.  By
December, it is too cold. Like in Providence, Master's races had to be
delayed and almost cancelled, with many riders getting hypothermia.
Remember that Belgium and those ridiculous Euros have the Gulf Stream
keeping them from getting down to balls-freezing-off temperatures.
Now that US Nationals are in January, that's one month worse from the
December races I've experienced.  After a bunch of epic races in the
northwest, northeast, midwest and wherever else people race
cyclocross, everyone will want to come down to Austin to race bikes in
January!  Not freeze in Boulder or face Deliverance in that other
place.

Thanks to Rolando for putting this team together and Austinbikes for
keeping my bike running all season.  It was a lot of fun, exactly what
cyclocross should be.

It was nice to have this weekend’s cross races so close to Austin. It took us about 35 minutes to get to East Metropolitan Park where the races were hosted by Holland Racing.The course was between 1.3-1.6 miles long with two barriers (which some of the guys bunny hopped) and a sand pit. 

Austinbikes Cyclocross Team had 8 team members represent our squad and we all had a blast! See race reports and photos from the race weekend. Also, many thanks to our supporters and sponsors. 

Faith Watkins:
I raced the women’s open which was at 10a. There were four ladies in this class. The first two laps were fast. I caught the leader out of the sand pit at the end of the first lap after which she quickly passed me up again to take first.  She was in my sights the entire race but she was clearly more fit than I!  I also jumped in on the women’s ¾ race at 11a. There were seven or eight of us (a good showing in Texas).  My idea for this race was to tag onto Natalie’s wheel and let her pull me along the course. Well, she proved to be a bit faster than I anticipated and I had to give a lot just to stay five lengths behind her. But my barrier skills were a bit better and I’d catch her at the end of every lap. I finally passed her up and then I got sloppy. I set my bike down too hard after a barrier and dropped my chain. I am not 100% that I had enough to beat her but at least I would have had the opportunity to try had it not been for the technical failure. Next time, Natalie, next time. I took third in this race.  

We had some light rain on Sunday morning but not enough to make a difference on the course. We road the course in the opposite direction after a few changes had been made. It was a fairly hilly, demanding course and dirt was really loose around corners from the day before.  Two women led the charge and I resignedly pedaled my way to a third place finish in the women’s open race. I didn’t have it in me on Sunday to do the ¾ race.  Races next weekend are in Dallas and I’ll be ready. 

Rolando Roman:
Race week started by a fun week as a solo parent as my wife was racing in Indianapolis (half-marathon). Thursday night my daughter and I ventured to Whole Foods for dinner, I had sushi and my daughter and I shared a tofu salad and quinoa.  Everything was really good until that night, I woke up at 1am and spent the rest of the morning hugging the toilet. I got food poisoning, yes, not fun. It's for sure a great weight loss program... I just need to bottle it and I'll make millions.

The remaining day was spent trying to hydrate, take care of my daughter and prepare for the 4 races I was going to be doing during the the weekend. The positive, all races were local, no 3-4 hour traveling involved.

On Saturday I was woken before the alarm at 4:55am to the beautiful sound of my daughter (Stella) saying "Papi, Papi... Bottle". By then I was feeling much better, stomach was settled, and I was hungry.  The rest of the morning was spent playing with Stella before the baby-sitter arrived. 

During this weekend I did a total of 4 races; 2 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday.  The results were just OK.  I was just happy to be able to race.  The promoter, Holland Racing had a great turn out and it's always fun to see friends, competitors and other cyclocross geeks acting like pros. 

This will be an off weekend, however I have lots of training and chores to do around the house besides spending quality time with the family!  

Saturdays Results:
Single Speed- 2nd place
Pro 1/2- DNF Punctured rear tubular

Sundays Results: 
Single Speed- 2nd place
Pro 1/2- 14th place and happy that I finished.  This is what I posted on my twitter account (@RoandMo) after the race: "Today during the pro1/2 race I suffered, cramped, and fought with demons, still finished. Quitting wasn't an option. #cyclocross #txcx"

Thanks for reading.  

Adios.

ROLANDO

(download)

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November 8, 2011

(Austin, TX) – Austinbikes Cyclocross Team is proud to announce Grease Monkey Wipes, as a new sponsor and supporter of it's grass root campaign to grow the sport of Cyclocross in the State of Texas. Austinbikes Cyclocross Team is honored to partner with an Austin, Texas Business that makes a fantastic product which is made in the USA.

About Grease Monkey Wipes:

Grease Monkey Wipes, a division of Kong Concepts LLC, was created by frustrated cyclists who wanted an easy, portable way to clean up after getting greasy from changing a flat tire.

Owners Erin Whalen and Tim Stansbury are committed to helping everyone, from cyclists to mechanics to motorcyclists to moms, steer clear of grease and grime. Grease Monkey Wipes are the perfect solution for anyone who finds themselves in need of a heavy duty cleaning wipe that can be taken anywhere.

Grease Monkey Wipes can be found online at www.greasemonkeywipes.com.

About Austinbikes Cyclocross Team:

The mission of the Austinbikes Cyclocross Team is to create a fun and competitive cyclocross team, open to all ability levels. Whether you are a seasoned veteran or a first time racer, we will provide an opportunity to take your skills to the next level and grow the sport in Texas. Those who have no ambitions of racing, but are looking for a fun social cycling group to be a part of are encouraged to join our growing cyclocross community, too!

Learn more about Austinbikes Cyclocross Team at www.austinbikescx.com.

Our next official Austinbikes Cyclocross training session will take place on Friday, November 11th at the NW Park 7000 Ardath Street, Austin, TX 78757. We will start at 6:45am (we should have daylight by then).

When: Fri, November 11th,  6:45am

Where: 7000 Ardath Street, Austin, TX 78757 (map)

Description: Easy riding with some barrier, turns, run ups... Just easy. 

Who should come: Everyone. Please Share!

If you know of anyone interested in Cyclocross and would like to join our Grassroots Teams, provide them with the website information on how to join our Austinbikes Cyclocross Team at www.AustinbikesCX.com. 

Our next official Austinbikes Cyclocross training session will take place on Friday, November 11th at the NW Park 7000 Ardath Street, Austin, TX 78757. We will start at 6:45am (we should have daylight by then).

When: Fri, November 11th,  6:45am

Where: 7000 Ardath Street, Austin, TX 78757 (map)

Description: Easy riding with some barrier, turns, run ups... Just easy. 

Who should come: Everyone. Please Share!

If you know of anyone interested in Cyclocross and would like to join our Grassroots Teams, provide them with the website information on how to join our Austinbikes Cyclocross Team at www.AustinbikesCX.com. 

Austinbikes Cyclocross Team had a few folks venture out to the Big D (Dallas) for the Halloween weekend CX Festivities.  The weather was perfect, mid 60 and both races were different.  Read below race reports.  Thanks to our sponsors and supporters!

Faith Watkins:

Drove up to the Spooky Cross race in North Oak Cliff, Dallas at 5:30 this morning to get in a fun-filled day of Cyclocross racing. It was Central Texas’ first real chilly morning of the season and everyone was decked out in tights and arm warmers!

The course start was a sprint up a small driveway past the front of a school and up a curb. The long start spread everyone out to avoid any major debacles over the curb. I was chatting away to quell my nerves at the start and wasn’t paying attention. Needless to say, I didn’t get a very good start and was discouraged by how much distance the leading woman quickly had on me. There were five of us in the open race although two were more into Halloween festivities than into racing. I never did catch the leading lady but held onto second place.

The women’s 3/4 race started 20 minutes later and again, I wasn’t super impressed with my start. It was long enough to go anaerobic and I just wasn’t confident that the front position should have been mine. I haven’t had a solid practice in two weeks since my lungs have been congested and I felt intimidated racing against the same woman who just beat me in the open race. Not to mention, I got caught behind a line of guys at the start and didn’t have the wherewithal to pass them. Because the women’s field is small, we tend to spread out and race alone so my experience picking a line to pass someone isn't tried and true. On the other hand, there is rarely the carrot of someone faster or the fire of someone on your wheel so it was super fun to be able to race along with the CAT 4 men. However, I learned that next time I’ll demand my space and pass ‘em up. I enjoyed another second place finish.

All in all, it was a great day. I experienced some frustration with my fitness not being where I want it to be due to illness but I felt comfortable and confident on my bike. My bike fits me like a glove now since Sol Frost, down at the shop, corrected my riding position. I’m stoked to improve my efficiency and cross riding technique with every pedal stroke.

Rolando Roman:

I drove on Sunday morning after spending the first latter part of the weekend with my family "being a husband/dad". The race site was the same as the 2010 State Championship, fast short course. It didn't suit me, however it was great racing/training. I pushed it with avg. time per lap was 3:30 min, for those who have raced cross those are fast laps, flat, open, not so technical short course.  Placed 15th in the Pro 1/2. Next weekend, local race in Austin, so I get to sleep in and spend the weekend with the family.  

Our next official Austinbikes Cyclocross training session will take place on Friday, October 21st at the NW Park 7000 Ardath Street, Austin, TX 78757. We will start at 7:15am.

When: Fri, October 28th,  7:15am

Where: 7000 Ardath Street, Austin, TX 78757 (map)

Description: Easy riding with some barrier, turns, run ups... Just easy. 

Who should come: Everyone!

If you know of anyone interested in Cyclocross and would like to join our Grassroots Teams, provide them with the website information on how to join our Austinbikes Cyclocross Team at www.AustinbikesCX.com. 

Our next official Austinbikes Cyclocross training session will take place on Friday, October 21st at the NW Park 7000 Ardath Street, Austin, TX 78757. We will start at 7:15am.

When: Fri, October 21st,  7:15am

Where: 7000 Ardath Street, Austin, TX 78757 (map)

Description: Easy riding with some barrier, turns, run ups... Just easy. 

Who should come: Everyone!

If you know of anyone interested in Cyclocross and would like to join our Grassroots Teams, provide them with the website information on how to join our Austinbikes Cyclocross Team at www.AustinbikesCX.com.