The Zink Ranch Report

An off week with no cyclocross racing locally was a welcomed break.  I think that even if there was an event, I probably wouldn't have participated.  A person can only get their butt kicked so many times before they call it quits.

The weekend plan was to take it easy and enjoy some rest and work on some house projects - that French drain is not going to complete itself.  Christopher wanted to go riding our motorcycles.  So the question is, Ride or Work? 

The final round of the MORE series was being held at the Zink Ranch in Otterville, MO.  We decided to head over for the Saturday Sportsmans races and save the work for Saturday evening and Sunday.  Besides, it was "Pink Out" weekend so we wanted to support breast cancer awareness.

It was very foggy Saturday morning.  I can not recall ever seeing fog this thick in Missouri nor this widespread.  We left KC in a dense fog and were in the thick of it until  a few miles outside of Sedalia.

Carolynn made us some delicious snacks for the day.  We have been experimenting with some "Portables".   Wrapped up for today were Chicken Sausage Rice Cakes. 

There were lots of riders in Pink this weekend. Logan Pierce looking good in Pink.  I wish I would have kept some of my old gear from the late 80's.  I had a really cool set of blue/pink gear.

We got an early gift Saturday morning.... Awards from our last MORE event.  We couldn't stay for the  award presentation that evening.  I do like the MORE series, but it's tough waiting several hours for awards.

Zink Ranch had a little of everything.  Creek crossings, mud, wide open fields and plenty of hills.  Some of the uphills were very hard to get up with the slick roots and rocks.   Going down was a little unnerving to say the least. 

I got another good start.  Led until the first creek and that was when Chad Larimer stuffed his way by with a nice aggressive pass. Rubbing is racing.  

You never know what you will see out on course or who will be watching you.  I never noticed the hillbilly  with his dog until I saw this photo of Christopher entering one of the many creeks.

It was follow the leader in most of the creek sections.  Unless your name is Chad :-)

I felt out of sorts most of the day today.  Only on the flat single track did I feel good.  Most of the race I was in 2nd place.

Danny Joe Kost descends with a young rider.  The downhills were a little slick and you had to be on your toes.

On the last lap I lost focus when I came up on Christopher stuck on an uphill.  I decided to let him get out of his predicament by himself.  For whatever reason I started riding very tense and ended up falling back to 3rd place on the day. 

Christopher got rolling again and charged back to take 3rd on the day.  A solid ride by him.  He did very well in the creeks whereas I was a candy ass riding through them. 

One day I will have a setup like this.....Not going to happen in this lifetime though.  This guy had a power washer and everything else you could think of.  

Christopher looking good in his boots.  I do not know how or why he wears boots.  I wore them for a short period of time back in High school.

The few rounds of the MORE series have been fun this year.  Christopher got on the box today but we had to leave early to get home so we could work.  The courses are a little harder than the Forward Motion series for the most part and Christopher seems to do better on these courses.   I need a lot of practice on the  rocky technical courses especially when they are wet.  Slick rocks are not my forte' but one day they will be.

This past weekends break from cyclocross has been nice.  It has really made me question my desires.  I know for one thing I do not enjoy getting my butt kicked in cyclocross.  I thought my form would improve over the past month but it has actually regressed.  Maybe over training?  It could be the excess wight that I am carrying and the hilly courses that have been used.  There are some flatter courses coming up in November so maybe there is hope for me.