Elm City CX - slip sliding away...
Early up, driving carefully through the fog of a rapidly warming day. Didn't see sunlight til CT, many coffees dranken.
Saw pics from March Farms CX, the Saturday of what was going to be a weekend double header. Heard rumors that folks just ran the whole thing. Not too sorry I missed it. Running is verboten for the time being: thanks sacrum! (And thanks years of ignoring the pain, hoping it would just go away.)
Scored one of the last legit-ish spots in the tiny main lot. Yes, it was a handicapped spot. Have I mentioned my sacrum? Dressed in the van and got out for a sightseeing lap at 8. First race was scheduled for 8:30, so no pressure. Or rather too much. Even at 28 front, 30 rear, my PDXs were all over the place. The snow was still pretty coherent, but rapidly switching colors. What can brown do for you? On speedy singletrack, a major up and a rollickin' down, plus a field pretty much made of short flick-up turns, brown can make your day fun. Provided you have the right tire. Finally, something went right this season. I skidded back to the car and switched to the Clement BOS shod wheelset. These are new from Clement. They're tractor tires. Unlike the PDX, they don't do other thinks well. They do mud well. Jumped back out for a quick roll through the initial stuff I'd reconnoitered, and BAM, hooked up. Felt solid. Happily waved off as the first race lined up, I went back and warmed up.
Spent a goodly amount of time debating clothing choices. It was a consternating morning. Kept getting warm, then cold, foggy, then clear... Plus I'd gone a bit hard in my rain kit and gotten, um, moist. Note, don't do that. Finally settled on a sh*t-ton of embro, leg warmers, LS regular skinsuit and visor cap. The radar had rain coming, so I threw a light thermal shirt under, just in case. Remembered I hadn't done the pre-ride with my glasses and hoped I wouldn't have any fogging issues.
Got another 1/2 lap in, punching it a coupla times. Was hitting the rim a bit too much for comfort, so notched the air up to 28 front, 30 rear. When you're 210, those are legit numbers. At this point, the snow had given up. We were in mud-land. Not a soft mud, either. This was black grit. Brake pad killer. And for all the grit, super-slid-y. It may have been that most of the corners were TIGHT, but if you pushed, or hit 'em too hard, you were gift wrapped in yellow instanter. Takeaway from the second pre-ride? I love this effing tire.
The race was getting a lil behind schedule, so there was some riding around, second-guessing clothing choices. Hung out in the Rec Center with
@MadisonDan for a while, being warm and stretching a bit. Then down to it!
All the old guys went together: 40+, 2 minutes, 50+, 1 minute, 60+. I went 50+. At the whistle, we had about 100 yards to question our life choices before the first 180 left. This was the widest corner on the course, and even THIS one was tight. The cement to mud transition wasn't bad, and despite setting myself up for the inside corner, I got through ok. Yay old people! Then it was chicany mud for a while, a skate-park ramp (whee!), barriers (boo!), single track, more chicany mud, long straight-away with a deceptive looking opportunity for passing that was really a big pit (extra boo!) and then a loooooong and wonderful uphill. Brow of the hill was 500 yards of lovely wide super-passable stuff that worked well if you could forget how hard you worked on the hill. It was a great place to ditch folks who'd gone too deep. A tight through the trees whip-it kept things honest up there. Deceptively tricky, that. And then a bonkers down hill that spilled out onto the road for a moment before handing out a bit more single track and more field. Don't rinse. Do repeat.
My group was Marty Jones from EC Devo,
@Harry Hamilton, two Horst guys (one, Paul, was super-cool, during and after) with guest appearances, coming and going. Marty was a target for me, as he routinely kicks my ass. I wanted to be near him. Period. The initial scrum settled down early. No one was flying away. The turns were too tight, and the mud made those kinds of efforts so obvious that responding to them was pretty easy. I tried an early pass, but the not-Paul Horst guy saw it and moved into the lane in front of me. I mentioned that that was "very New England of him". Not kidding. They are there to beat you. He smiled and I was happy his kit was carrot colored.
Was right on Marty as he tried to bunny the barriers and exploded. Silly Marty
Post hill, Harry screamed out that his glasses were fogging. I told him to aim for the brown line.
The conditions were weird for glasses. Warm patches on the field that got the glasses fogged, followed by cold, then warm again. And we were never going fast enough clear out the moisture. Which meant it was tough to see. But if you toss 'em, here's mud in your eye. I finally diced to toss and whipped 'em toward Bill Elliston, who sold them. For a brief moment, it was a great choice. And then I spent every other minute blinking like Herbert Lom in A Shot in the Dark. Dagnabit.
Power is way better today than StuporCross. And the grinding noises arent' getting to me mentally. Yeah, I'm tired, but when I dig, there's coal left in the hopper for the next time...
I was blinking my way toward the back end of 10th (Matt from Cyclesmaht). He and another guy got around a Kissena rider on a flat. I was sooo close to making up that gap. I got excited and passed on Kissena's inside just before a lil hill. Remember that thing about hitting em too hard? Yup. Overcooked it and went down, right in front of Kissena. He rode up my back and we played pieces parts for a while. Lost mebbe four places, Oh Hi Marty! Hi Harry!, apologized profusely for being That Guy and took off. Things that were also lost - my garmin and the name plate on my left shifter.
W/in two laps, by NOT riding like an asshole, I was closing back in on Marty. Penultimate lap, I started to push a bit. The downhill had been a safe-space for me. Gravity enjoys my company. We get along well. And my brakes were lovely. I'm excited. I'm pushing. We're down to a lap and a half and I am GOING to catch Marty. I know how to go downhill. OK, yeah, there's someone else there, but I can get around him. He pulls slightly out of my way. Nice! but my line wasn't. I ended up too wide, out in the thin mud at the trail/road transition. Out goes the back end, save it, over correct, there goes the front and the next thing I know, I'm under the tape, having taken a pretty hard tap to the helmet. Up I get, quick check of the body parts, all good-ish, let some folks know I'm not broken and get ready to finish it out. But I can't get the bars straight. Wheel between the legs, mighty efforts, nothing happens. Fahk. Calm, breathe, breathe, try again. Nope. Locked solid.
Thanks for playing.
Riding back with bars akimbo, I take stock of what's not correct. Shoulder, both knees, no Garmin, one name plate gone, the other scotched. An expensive lesson, but a lesson nonetheless. Patience. When it's this weird and the difference between upright and uptight is this close, just... effing... wait... And hope Marty tries to ride the barriers again.
I got a chance to apologize again to the Kissena guy, Eloy, at the wash. Turns out he felt bad for crashing onto me. Funny how different things look in the moment. Still, it was my fault.
Spent the rest of the day hanging out with Bill and Cassie over by the skate ramp, hassling Dan Larino's son, eating the volunteer's food at the Rec Ctr and kicking at mud for my Garmin. No luck. Karma. Highlight: Friefelder flips his glasses to me at the barrier, I catch them one handed like I'd been training for that moment my whole life. Sold them.
I heartily recommend this race to anyone who enjoys riding bicycles. Even if the conditions are not, as yesterday, PERFECT, it's a lovely lil jernt, and this late into the season, a fantastic place to be.
Big shout-outs to
@MadisonDan,
@Pokgirl, Dan Larino (who raced 1/2/3 AND SS, which he won),
@Harry Hamilton and Christie Da Werld Champeen for a job well done.
