Well, this is interesting, to me at least. After being totally disillusioned after the 2023 cyclocross season and not planning to race in 2024, I ended up doing 3 races and actually putting work in for the last one.
Recently, from some mysterious place I have found a revitalization and have decided to train hard for the next year, bump up to cat 3, race a full local schedule, then go try to whoop some ass in Arkansas in December 2025.
Here’s what I see today as the 2024 version was held in Louisville Ky this weekend:
39 guys started and finished. 4 guys didn’t start and 2 of those are from teams near me, weird.
Here’s a link to remind myself to put a name to numbers, make this as real as possible.
https://legacy.usacycling.org/results/?permit=2024-11827
43 minutes and 15 seconds. That’s the winning mark, winning by 7 seconds. 3rd place was another 10 seconds back.
Samuel Morse, Erik Grimm, Todd Cassan – nice work. See you boys (in Arkansas) in a year.
So that’s the deal – ride and lift like a mofo for a year, fly across the country in December, all for 45 minutes of pain and suffering and hopefully holeshot glory and a podium spot.
Hit the weightroom and get my legs swole – I’m going to need more power and speed. It’s unlikely that I’ll get a callup so I’m really going to have to stomp on it for an extended time to get to the front.
Here is the callup order:
1. Defending national champion nope
2. Aged-up national champion nope
3. Previous year’s podium for the age group (2nd-5th) nope
4. USAC rankings my local races aren’t USAC sanctioned
5. Unranked riders in random order Ah Hell Yes!
I am building up a new 3T aero frame for the cause too, stay tuned here for updates on the whole chilupa including Instagram and Youtube goodies.
First event is Jan 25th already – StinkySpoke. It’s got a gnarly climb at the beginning that I have yet to ride up without putting my foot down. Gotta go
