Video of Supercross CX Day 2, Men's Masters 35+. A view from the back. The way back. Not quite DFL, but vurrrry close....
Can I get a freakin race report?
- Thread starter jShort
- Start date
Yes to both of these.
This is gonna be a priority for me at races, after I'm done being relentlessly mediocre in my race. In the same way that having a central area for folks to watch the race from would be great, everyone should be able to do their work w/out being sh*t on. I'm remembering the cops having to respond to a fight at the barriers corner at Cooper 4 years ago. The opposite of that would be awesome.
I noticed the bunny at the off-camber run-up as well. At that point in the race though, my mind couldn't process words and I was therefore not offended.
If you want to watch AM whining for over an hour, watch the movie 'Transition' by Sam Smith. It was an entire movie of that rant. I definitely respect the man as a racer, promoter, and general ambassador for the sport, but good lord that guy can complain...
If you want to watch AM whining for over an hour, watch the movie 'Transition' by Sam Smith. It was an entire movie of that rant. I definitely respect the man as a racer, promoter, and general ambassador for the sport, but good lord that guy can complain...
Where is the line / what are the rules of engagement? Do you need to know someone to heckle them? Do you have to ask permission to heckle them on the first lap? Are we in the territory of participation medals with cross? Many have commented that the ability to spectate with cross is part of the draw, are the spectators only allowed to give cheers of encouragement?
Don't be a dick. QED
The Squirrel
Well-Known Member
My rule of thumb on this is if I'm not brave enough to say it to your face while you're off the bike and not ready to pass out, then I'm not going to say it. I choose my words wisely because I understand they are a reflection of who I am.
Apparently it is easier said than done...
Mountain Bike Mike
Well-Known Member
Natural tendencies... Me & Mindfuck, You & Dick
NBX weekend, or that weekend I spent having people who know how to race bikes beat the crap out of me (cribbed from my coach's race report):
Well, that was bracing! Glad I didn't need a brace afterwards. We throw hay bails over anything that even looks scary. They don't give a shit. Not one. Pucker factor was VERY high, esp day 2.
To begin:
Drove up Friday night. Arrived at 12:30. Getting the Friday work done at a sprint meant I missed the openers. There's a lot about these big road trips I've gotta work out. (I know, this is nothing - stop laughing.) Waking up at 5:45 the next morning wasn't optimal.
Rolled into the park shy of 7 and got three, yup THREE laps in before the 8 o'clock race, I had the trainer up and working and was on the way to a fairly unpanicked, if not well rested, morning.
And then there was the racing. The pre-ride lifted the skirts on a course that was WELL beyond the stuff I've seen so far down here. LVG said the course had a lot of flow. I though that was insane, til Day 2, but that's for later. The start was OK, but I definitely don't have that aggressive NE gene. Also, they're fucking fast. From the prologue, we dumped off into an elephant graveyard. Roots like thighbones in a Serbian backyard. Easily a dozen riders were done after a hard hit there. I'd taken a fairly good look, so even when I was smashing 'em, I knew it was coming so was able to do an impersonation of someone who could ride and got through ok. Getting through ok was the theme for the weekend it turns out.
Being sensible got me through the first half lap, being slow got me through the sand, kinda. Nothing like being passed by 15 people in 100 yards. Recovering after that suuucked. I was able to get around the queue at the stairs by just running around it. That bought me a few places, for a bit. After the first lap, we settled into our respective grooves. Or ruts. Or holes. Lots of little battles. And lots of "oh, hey, if I pedal through this I don't lose as much speed!" and "Oh, THESE stakes are metal and hurt like a motherfucker when you clip them!"
The technical stuff got better as the race went on, which was awesome, but I managed to even that out by being flat and not having much pop out the corners.
Ended up in a nice little fight on the last lap, which gave me a bit of gristle to gnaw on for a bit. At the finish, I was definitely cooked. Didn't feel like there was a lot more I could have left out there. Lap times were good, if not compared to anyone else's
Should I be focusing on blasting out of corners and jettisoning the diesel approach?
Housed a burrito for lunch. (Not good, sadly, despite the LA Style description.) I think they meant Louisiana. Ate too much for dinner, but was somehow able to NOT drink 2 six packs in the hotel room. Spent some time prepping a new book and was out by 10.
AND THEN:
Must have slept like shit. The morning was not terrible, but definitely didn't feel 100%. Microwave burrito and cereal and off we went! So, so much colder this morning. Which led to the first bump up against today's "Oh, fuck, really?" theme. The first lap was scary. I felt over my head, technically. Yesterday's sweeping corners didn't seem to flow in reverse, someone found 1000 more roots, and subtracting all but 15 feet of sand would seem to be a good thing, but it still sucked. I did manage to find one corner I could do well. Taking a wide line in the corner under the pedestrian bridge set me up to rocket into the uphill, where others were just trying not to crash out on a rough off camber. The downside to my brainstorm was the potential for a wash out and flossing with orange metal fencing. More on that later.
Back to the car and warming up. Happily I packed the thermal skinsuit, so that went on. Knocked out the warmup and got numbered up. Spent most of the morning trying to figure out what to wear. It was cold. Which wouldn't normally be a problem, but when your head's not there, and the privations start mounting, the head takes each lil blow as an omen. By the time I got lined up, my head was all HP Lovecraft. My start didn't have a lot of oomph, but it wasn't horrible. Didn't give up a lot, as I'd lined up at 46. Probably went into the trees in the middle 50s. The barriers saw my usual stick-figure meets wall grace, again and again. I could lose a step in between them. Gotta do some more work on that. By the end of the first lap, I'd forgotten about how nervous/straight-up worried I was and got down to the business of not being very good at most of it, and occasionally being ok at some of it.
At lap five, I was behind two guys that had been throwing elbows. Their pissed-offedness made em sparky, so I hitched myself to their wagon and waited for the right moment. I think three right moments passed before we got to my wide-line uphill corner. The first guy was a 55+, so no worries about him. #2 was 45+. Marked! We went into the off camber/wide out bit. I got a lil excited and washed out the front tire. Held it (yes!) and came on HOT! Missed it by 1/2 a wheel. I could have gone all NE on him and pushed, but fuck that. It was nice to know I was right, in theory, if not in practice. Next year.
Oh, hell fuck really? thing #2. Head was calm, but my gloves + the lack of space under the shimano levers meant I never really had a good grip on the hoods. At one point I was seriously considering tossing the gloves and risking it. That cost me time and places. And was fucking dangerous. Pre-rides can be dangerous that way. You get lulled into thinking things are one way, when they're totally the other. Tire pressure was another lulu. I dodged that bullet though. Choosing your line at low speeds has NOTHING to do with hitting roots hard during the race. Last minute I went from 30/32 f/r to 31/34 f/r. It was harsher, sure, but holy shit did I like it when I wasn't on my cruising lap lines.
Seriously, this hand clearance thing is gonna be a fucking big deal as it gets colder.
Highlights: hanging out with @The Heckler, pitting for Clio from Kindhuman/Kudu Collective, basking in the warmth that is Team TwomBossa and being beaten up by guys who look like my dentist. HUGE shoutout to @hotsauce, who, despite riding @The Squirrel's borrowed bike, clocked lap times exactly in line with mine, with an extra for him being awesome. A seriously excellent ride. Also, he was pretty much DFL. Or DFL -10. Is that a thing? Did I mention how effing fast they are up there?
Lowlights: aging.
Well, that was bracing! Glad I didn't need a brace afterwards. We throw hay bails over anything that even looks scary. They don't give a shit. Not one. Pucker factor was VERY high, esp day 2.
To begin:
Drove up Friday night. Arrived at 12:30. Getting the Friday work done at a sprint meant I missed the openers. There's a lot about these big road trips I've gotta work out. (I know, this is nothing - stop laughing.) Waking up at 5:45 the next morning wasn't optimal.
Rolled into the park shy of 7 and got three, yup THREE laps in before the 8 o'clock race, I had the trainer up and working and was on the way to a fairly unpanicked, if not well rested, morning.
And then there was the racing. The pre-ride lifted the skirts on a course that was WELL beyond the stuff I've seen so far down here. LVG said the course had a lot of flow. I though that was insane, til Day 2, but that's for later. The start was OK, but I definitely don't have that aggressive NE gene. Also, they're fucking fast. From the prologue, we dumped off into an elephant graveyard. Roots like thighbones in a Serbian backyard. Easily a dozen riders were done after a hard hit there. I'd taken a fairly good look, so even when I was smashing 'em, I knew it was coming so was able to do an impersonation of someone who could ride and got through ok. Getting through ok was the theme for the weekend it turns out.
Being sensible got me through the first half lap, being slow got me through the sand, kinda. Nothing like being passed by 15 people in 100 yards. Recovering after that suuucked. I was able to get around the queue at the stairs by just running around it. That bought me a few places, for a bit. After the first lap, we settled into our respective grooves. Or ruts. Or holes. Lots of little battles. And lots of "oh, hey, if I pedal through this I don't lose as much speed!" and "Oh, THESE stakes are metal and hurt like a motherfucker when you clip them!"
The technical stuff got better as the race went on, which was awesome, but I managed to even that out by being flat and not having much pop out the corners.
Ended up in a nice little fight on the last lap, which gave me a bit of gristle to gnaw on for a bit. At the finish, I was definitely cooked. Didn't feel like there was a lot more I could have left out there. Lap times were good, if not compared to anyone else's
Should I be focusing on blasting out of corners and jettisoning the diesel approach?
Housed a burrito for lunch. (Not good, sadly, despite the LA Style description.) I think they meant Louisiana. Ate too much for dinner, but was somehow able to NOT drink 2 six packs in the hotel room. Spent some time prepping a new book and was out by 10.
AND THEN:
Must have slept like shit. The morning was not terrible, but definitely didn't feel 100%. Microwave burrito and cereal and off we went! So, so much colder this morning. Which led to the first bump up against today's "Oh, fuck, really?" theme. The first lap was scary. I felt over my head, technically. Yesterday's sweeping corners didn't seem to flow in reverse, someone found 1000 more roots, and subtracting all but 15 feet of sand would seem to be a good thing, but it still sucked. I did manage to find one corner I could do well. Taking a wide line in the corner under the pedestrian bridge set me up to rocket into the uphill, where others were just trying not to crash out on a rough off camber. The downside to my brainstorm was the potential for a wash out and flossing with orange metal fencing. More on that later.
Back to the car and warming up. Happily I packed the thermal skinsuit, so that went on. Knocked out the warmup and got numbered up. Spent most of the morning trying to figure out what to wear. It was cold. Which wouldn't normally be a problem, but when your head's not there, and the privations start mounting, the head takes each lil blow as an omen. By the time I got lined up, my head was all HP Lovecraft. My start didn't have a lot of oomph, but it wasn't horrible. Didn't give up a lot, as I'd lined up at 46. Probably went into the trees in the middle 50s. The barriers saw my usual stick-figure meets wall grace, again and again. I could lose a step in between them. Gotta do some more work on that. By the end of the first lap, I'd forgotten about how nervous/straight-up worried I was and got down to the business of not being very good at most of it, and occasionally being ok at some of it.
At lap five, I was behind two guys that had been throwing elbows. Their pissed-offedness made em sparky, so I hitched myself to their wagon and waited for the right moment. I think three right moments passed before we got to my wide-line uphill corner. The first guy was a 55+, so no worries about him. #2 was 45+. Marked! We went into the off camber/wide out bit. I got a lil excited and washed out the front tire. Held it (yes!) and came on HOT! Missed it by 1/2 a wheel. I could have gone all NE on him and pushed, but fuck that. It was nice to know I was right, in theory, if not in practice. Next year.
Oh, hell fuck really? thing #2. Head was calm, but my gloves + the lack of space under the shimano levers meant I never really had a good grip on the hoods. At one point I was seriously considering tossing the gloves and risking it. That cost me time and places. And was fucking dangerous. Pre-rides can be dangerous that way. You get lulled into thinking things are one way, when they're totally the other. Tire pressure was another lulu. I dodged that bullet though. Choosing your line at low speeds has NOTHING to do with hitting roots hard during the race. Last minute I went from 30/32 f/r to 31/34 f/r. It was harsher, sure, but holy shit did I like it when I wasn't on my cruising lap lines.
Seriously, this hand clearance thing is gonna be a fucking big deal as it gets colder.
Highlights: hanging out with @The Heckler, pitting for Clio from Kindhuman/Kudu Collective, basking in the warmth that is Team TwomBossa and being beaten up by guys who look like my dentist. HUGE shoutout to @hotsauce, who, despite riding @The Squirrel's borrowed bike, clocked lap times exactly in line with mine, with an extra for him being awesome. A seriously excellent ride. Also, he was pretty much DFL. Or DFL -10. Is that a thing? Did I mention how effing fast they are up there?
Lowlights: aging.
Last edited:
hotsauce
Well-Known Member
A very accurate description of the weekend. The course was like Bubble Cross turned up to 11 and with infinity roots instead of the grass section.
Full report to come when I don't have a leftover Narragansett in my hand...
Liked for HP Lovecraft.NBX weekend, or that weekend I spent having people who know how to race bikes beat the crap out of me (cribbed from my coach's race report):
Well, that was bracing! Glad I didn't need a brace afterwards. We throw hay bails over anything that even looks scary. They don't give a shit. Not one. Pucker factor was VERY high, esp day 2.
To begin:
Drove up Friday night. Arrived at 12:30. Getting the Friday work done at a sprint meant I missed the openers. There's a lot about these big road trips I've gotta work out. (I know, this is nothing - stop laughing.) Waking up at 5:45 the next morning wasn't optimal.
Rolled into the park shy of 7 and got three, yup THREE laps in before the 8 o'clock race, I had the trainer up and working and was on the way to a fairly unpanicked, if not well rested, morning.
And then there was the racing. The pre-ride lifted the skirts on a course that was WELL beyond the stuff I've seen so far down here. LVG said the course had a lot of flow. I though that was insane, til Day 2, but that's for later. The start was OK, but I definitely don't have that aggressive NE gene. Also, they're fucking fast. From the prologue, we dumped off into an elephant graveyard. Roots like thighbones in a Serbian backyard. Easily a dozen riders were done after a hard hit there. I'd taken a fairly good look, so even when I was smashing 'em, I knew it was coming so was able to do an impersonation of someone who could ride and got through ok. Getting through ok was the theme for the weekend it turns out.
Being sensible got me through the first half lap, being slow got me through the sand, kinda. Nothing like being passed by 15 people in 100 yards. Recovering after that suuucked. I was able to get around the queue at the stairs by just running around it. That bought me a few places, for a bit. After the first lap, we settled into our respective grooves. Or ruts. Or holes. Lots of little battles. And lots of "oh, hey, if I pedal through this I don't lose as much speed!" and "Oh, THESE stakes are metal and hurt like a motherfucker when you clip them!"
The technical stuff got better as the race went on, which was awesome, but I managed to even that out by being flat and not having much pop out the corners.
Ended up in a nice little fight on the last lap, which gave me a bit of gristle to gnaw on for a bit. At the finish, I was definitely cooked. Didn't feel like there was a lot more I could have left out there. Lap times were good, if not compared to anyone else's
Should I be focusing on blasting out of corners and jettisoning the diesel approach?
Housed a burrito for lunch. (Not good, sadly, despite the LA Style description.) I think they meant Louisiana. Ate too much for dinner, but was somehow able to NOT drink 2 six packs in the hotel room. Spent some time prepping a new book and was out by 10.
AND THEN:
Must have slept like shit. The morning was not terrible, but definitely didn't feel 100%. Microwave burrito and cereal and off we went! So, so much colder this morning. Which led to the first bump up against today's "Oh, fuck, really?" theme. The first lap was scary. I felt over my head, technically. Yesterday's sweeping corners didn't seem to flow in reverse, someone found 1000 more roots, and subtracting all but 15 feet of sand would seem to be a good thing, but it still sucked. I did manage to find one corner I could do well. Taking a wide line in the corner under the pedestrian bridge set me up to rocket into the uphill, where others were just trying not to crash out on a rough off camber. The downside to my brainstorm was the potential for a wash out and flossing with orange metal fencing. More on that later.
Back to the car and warming up. Happily I packed the thermal skinsuit, so that went on. Knocked out the warmup and got numbered up. Spent most of the morning trying to figure out what to wear. It was cold. Which wouldn't normally be a problem, but when your head's not there, and the privations start mounting, the head takes each lil blow as an omen. By the time I got lined up, my head was all HP Lovecraft. My start didn't have a lot of oomph, but it wasn't horrible. Didn't give up a lot, as I'd lined up at 46. Probably went into the trees in the middle 50s. The barriers saw my usual stick-figure meets wall grace, again and again. I could lose a step in between them. Gotta do some more work on that. By the end of the first lap, I'd forgotten about how nervous/straight-up worried I was and got down to the business of not being very good at most of it, and occasionally being ok at some of it.
At lap five, I was behind two guys that had been throwing elbows. Their pissed-offedness made em sparky, so I hitched myself to their wagon and waited for the right moment. I think three right moments passed before we got to my wide-line uphill corner. The first guy was a 55+, so no worries about him. #2 was 45+. Marked! We went into the off camber/wide out bit. I got a lil excited and washed out the front tire. Held it (yes!) and came on HOT! Missed it by 1/2 a wheel. I could have gone all NE on him and pushed, but fuck that. It was nice to know I was right, in theory, if not in practice. Next year.
Oh, hell fuck really? thing #2. Head was calm, but my gloves + the lack of space under the shimano levers meant I never really had a good grip on the hoods. At one point I was seriously considering tossing the gloves and risking it. That cost me time and places. And was fucking dangerous. Pre-rides can be dangerous that way. You get lulled into thinking things are one way, when they're totally the other. Tire pressure was another lulu. I dodged that bullet though. Choosing your line at low speeds has NOTHING to do with hitting roots hard during the race. Last minute I went from 30/32 f/r to 31/34 f/r. It was harsher, sure, but holy shit did I like it when I wasn't on my cruising lap lines.
Seriously, this hand clearance thing is gonna be a fucking big deal as it gets colder.
Highlights: hanging out with @The Heckler, pitting for Clio from Kindhuman/Kudu Collective, basking in the warmth that is Team Twombly and being beaten up by guys who look like my dentist. HUGE shoutout to @hotsauce, who, despite riding @The Squirrel's borrowed bike, clocked lap times exactly in line with mine, with an extra for him being awesome. A seriously excellent ride. Also, he was pretty much DFL. Or DFL -10. Is that a thing? Did I mention how effing fast they are up there?
Lowlights: aging.
The Squirrel
Well-Known Member
+1
The Heckler
You bring new meaning to the term SUCK
I raced your sling shot line and it totally worked a couple times. I never made a pass but I closed 2-4 bike gaps a few times. THANKS!
Also, thank you again for the help in the pits with Clio on Saturday, she was very grateful for your support in there. Sunday she ended up kneeing a stem bolt and giving herself some kinda knee funny bone episode and pulled out first lap.
StayHydrated
Swedish Chef
hotsauce
Well-Known Member
I'll take the free credit, but that was @seanrunnette. I tried the slingshot line too but with less success.
New England racing in December is like sitting at the final table in a big poker tournament. The only ones left racing are the good ones...beady little eyes scheming through ugly sunglasses just waiting to roll you and take your money.
Sean...Next Year TRP Hylex for you:
you can get fist full under these hoods.
Sean...Next Year TRP Hylex for you:
you can get fist full under these hoods.
ChrisG
Unapologetic Lifer for Rock and Roll
Very curvaceous levers, too.Sean...Next Year TRP Hylex for you:
you can get fist full under these hoods.
hotsauce
Well-Known Member
A very accurate statement. It's definitely the big leagues/playoffs up there. I mentioned to a guy in the parking lot after yesterday's race that this was my first New England race weekend and I've been racing MAC races mostly this year. He gave me a quizzical look and I explained "races like Nittany, Charm City, HPCX..." He gave me another quizzical look and walked away. It's like they don't even care what other racing goes on outside of NE.
hotsauce
Well-Known Member
NBX Gran Prix of Cyclocross - Men's 3s
Saturday
I stopped off early Saturday morning at @The Squirrel's place to borrow his bike. Driving 3 hours without a backup plan seemed like a bad idea. I rolled up to Goddard Memorial Park around 10 and hopped right on for pre-ride. I entered the course through the starting chute and BAM, there's roots everywhere. Big knotty, meaty roots. They were hard to avoid and sometimes the A line was right through them. Overall the course had a bit of everything, except flat power sections and padding on the sharp objects.
I lined up 7th row and was almost spat out the back right from the gun. Within the first 5 minutes, there must have been 15 guys with flats/dropped chains/wrecked bikes on the side of the course. For the first lap and a half I'm doing pretty well, keeping my own and having a few small battles with guys around me. The entry into the sand was tricky for me and on the 2nd time through I tried to dismount and ride the rut into the sand with only my left food clipped in. I didn't practice this in pre-ride and have never done it before and I preformed horribly. Face first into the sand and my derailleur went straight into the ground. When I got back on, shifting felt a little heavy then I start to hear the derailleur cage hitting spokes. Yikes! Good thing I have a backup bike!
I worked my way back to the pit to hop on @The Squirrel's bike. Before the race, I took a look at his bike, a CAAD9 with cantilevers, and assumed the tire pressure was good and the seat height was OK. Mark is only a few inches shorter than me so it should be fine, right?? Not right! The tires were under inflated, the seat was 2 inches too low, and the reach to the levers felt miles away. Thankfully the guy working the pit offered to take a look at my derailleur and I came back through a half lap later and it was 90% fixed so I got back on my Fuji and rode off into the sunset chasing for the remainder of the race. I was closing in on the finish and then washed out my front wheel one last time for good measure and get passed by 4 riders right before the finish.
71 of 81 finishers | Strava | Lap times: 7:20 (short), 9:18, 9:05, 8:45, 8:53, 8:53
After the race I chatted with @seanrunnette and watched the pro races. The White's are on a different level. Especially Curtis. Enjoyed some fish and chips, chowder, and a Narragansett at a local watering hole that night.
Sunday
I got to the venue a little earlier and hopped on course, mostly backwards from Saturday with a few changes. Less sand, more punchy climbs, and the roots felt way worse. I took the time to adjust the seat height and tire pressure on the pit bike seeing as I needed it on Saturday and a little planning goes a long way. I got 4 pre-ride laps in and started to feel OK on the course. Then I went down one of the steep rutty areas and took the line wrong only to go head over handlebars 15 minutes before the race start! Luckily I popped up and everything was where it should have been.
I lined up 6th row and the whistle blew without a 1 minute or 30 second warning. Everyone is all over the place not clipped in and we flail our way through the opening chute. I get a better start than Saturday but the start section dumps us right into the worst area of roots. I couldn't see where I was going for the life of me then I catch a glimpse of a big root coming my way and try to hop it. I end up sailing off the root 2+ ft into the are and everyone around me was scared shitless of my poor bike handling. I settled in and was tail gunning the 40+ person main group for the better part of 2 laps. I started to get sloppy hitting roots and not choosing my lines well and slowly get gapped off of the very end of the group. Somewhere along the line in the end of the 2nd lap, my rear end feels squishy and I attribute it the sandy dirt and just keep riding past the pit. I eventually feel the rim on the pavement and realize that I'm dead flat in the back but have another 1/2 lap to go before the pit so I shoulder the bike and start a loooong run for an 11:00 lap.
I hopped on the pit bike and keep ripping even though I can tell I'm almost DFL. Handling a bike that I'm not used to with huge brake lever reach is not fun! I dug hard and hobbled my way through the end of the race, but not before washing out the front wheel and going head over the bars one last time. I got back to my car, had the "MAC what?" conversation referenced above and high tailed it home.
57 of 59 finishers | Strava | Lap times: 12:58 (with prologue), 8:40, 11:00 (with flat), 9:05, 9:02
My racing this weekend was far from my best. I fell way more than I have in other races and made loads of bad line-choice decisions. I'm not sure if that's due to the mental and physical fatigue of trying to keep up with a faster group or trying to re-learn back of the pack racing. I definitely need to work on staying sharp and most importantly staying consistent.
I'll chalk this weekend up to a learning experience. I reached my season goal of going from never riding a cross bike to a Cat 3 upgrade a few weeks back and I look at any post-Thanksgiving racing as icing on the cake this year. I was a bit naive thinking I could be mid-pack in the hot bed of cyclocross in the heat of their season. At the very least I now know where I need to be to compete next year.
Thanks to @The Squirrel for the pit bike, now I need to clear some old road bikes out of my basement to make room for my own.
Next up: My season finale weekend in CT, 12/17-18
Saturday
I stopped off early Saturday morning at @The Squirrel's place to borrow his bike. Driving 3 hours without a backup plan seemed like a bad idea. I rolled up to Goddard Memorial Park around 10 and hopped right on for pre-ride. I entered the course through the starting chute and BAM, there's roots everywhere. Big knotty, meaty roots. They were hard to avoid and sometimes the A line was right through them. Overall the course had a bit of everything, except flat power sections and padding on the sharp objects.
I lined up 7th row and was almost spat out the back right from the gun. Within the first 5 minutes, there must have been 15 guys with flats/dropped chains/wrecked bikes on the side of the course. For the first lap and a half I'm doing pretty well, keeping my own and having a few small battles with guys around me. The entry into the sand was tricky for me and on the 2nd time through I tried to dismount and ride the rut into the sand with only my left food clipped in. I didn't practice this in pre-ride and have never done it before and I preformed horribly. Face first into the sand and my derailleur went straight into the ground. When I got back on, shifting felt a little heavy then I start to hear the derailleur cage hitting spokes. Yikes! Good thing I have a backup bike!
I worked my way back to the pit to hop on @The Squirrel's bike. Before the race, I took a look at his bike, a CAAD9 with cantilevers, and assumed the tire pressure was good and the seat height was OK. Mark is only a few inches shorter than me so it should be fine, right?? Not right! The tires were under inflated, the seat was 2 inches too low, and the reach to the levers felt miles away. Thankfully the guy working the pit offered to take a look at my derailleur and I came back through a half lap later and it was 90% fixed so I got back on my Fuji and rode off into the sunset chasing for the remainder of the race. I was closing in on the finish and then washed out my front wheel one last time for good measure and get passed by 4 riders right before the finish.
71 of 81 finishers | Strava | Lap times: 7:20 (short), 9:18, 9:05, 8:45, 8:53, 8:53
After the race I chatted with @seanrunnette and watched the pro races. The White's are on a different level. Especially Curtis. Enjoyed some fish and chips, chowder, and a Narragansett at a local watering hole that night.
Sunday
I got to the venue a little earlier and hopped on course, mostly backwards from Saturday with a few changes. Less sand, more punchy climbs, and the roots felt way worse. I took the time to adjust the seat height and tire pressure on the pit bike seeing as I needed it on Saturday and a little planning goes a long way. I got 4 pre-ride laps in and started to feel OK on the course. Then I went down one of the steep rutty areas and took the line wrong only to go head over handlebars 15 minutes before the race start! Luckily I popped up and everything was where it should have been.
I lined up 6th row and the whistle blew without a 1 minute or 30 second warning. Everyone is all over the place not clipped in and we flail our way through the opening chute. I get a better start than Saturday but the start section dumps us right into the worst area of roots. I couldn't see where I was going for the life of me then I catch a glimpse of a big root coming my way and try to hop it. I end up sailing off the root 2+ ft into the are and everyone around me was scared shitless of my poor bike handling. I settled in and was tail gunning the 40+ person main group for the better part of 2 laps. I started to get sloppy hitting roots and not choosing my lines well and slowly get gapped off of the very end of the group. Somewhere along the line in the end of the 2nd lap, my rear end feels squishy and I attribute it the sandy dirt and just keep riding past the pit. I eventually feel the rim on the pavement and realize that I'm dead flat in the back but have another 1/2 lap to go before the pit so I shoulder the bike and start a loooong run for an 11:00 lap.
I hopped on the pit bike and keep ripping even though I can tell I'm almost DFL. Handling a bike that I'm not used to with huge brake lever reach is not fun! I dug hard and hobbled my way through the end of the race, but not before washing out the front wheel and going head over the bars one last time. I got back to my car, had the "MAC what?" conversation referenced above and high tailed it home.
57 of 59 finishers | Strava | Lap times: 12:58 (with prologue), 8:40, 11:00 (with flat), 9:05, 9:02
My racing this weekend was far from my best. I fell way more than I have in other races and made loads of bad line-choice decisions. I'm not sure if that's due to the mental and physical fatigue of trying to keep up with a faster group or trying to re-learn back of the pack racing. I definitely need to work on staying sharp and most importantly staying consistent.
I'll chalk this weekend up to a learning experience. I reached my season goal of going from never riding a cross bike to a Cat 3 upgrade a few weeks back and I look at any post-Thanksgiving racing as icing on the cake this year. I was a bit naive thinking I could be mid-pack in the hot bed of cyclocross in the heat of their season. At the very least I now know where I need to be to compete next year.
Thanks to @The Squirrel for the pit bike, now I need to clear some old road bikes out of my basement to make room for my own.
Next up: My season finale weekend in CT, 12/17-18
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