Can I get a freakin race report?

Santapez said:
First true Cat 4 race (not 4/5).
Went out with WAY too low of tire pressure in the rear which caused me to lose my rear around a fast turn and have a decent crash.
Lost lots of spots and was in sort of a no-mans land which makes it hard to get the initiative to really push.
Road at 80% after the crash instead of spending the time to swap the rear wheel in the pit. I was getting bounced around a lot and constantly slamming the rim into the ground. That course is kind of rough.
Got lapped not too far from the finish so I was -Lap. If I had known they were coming I definitely had enough in me to push them off, not sure with the tire though.
Did 4 laps in roughly what would have put me as mid-pack in Cat5 that also did 4 laps, and I was expecting a 5th lap. I wasn't last, had a bunch of people finish behind me, not including the DNFs when I was expecting DFL.

So overall, I was actually pretty happy with how I raced, not happy with how I prepared. Need to pay more attention to tire pressures and realized a hot pre-ride lap is necessary. What was fine for slower course inspection was not fine for race pace.
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I miss racing with you, sadfaces mucho. Important notes: HPCX is MAC, so 4/5. Supercross is also 4/5. By the time non-combined fields roll around again next year, I'll be in the 4s and we can race together again.
 
Mountain Bike Mike said:
I do a 30 minite warm up for Ottos...
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MadisonDan said:
No dice dude... No way I can get there without leaving work really early...
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issue with priorities.

they actually wanted you to heckle to simulate the race environment!
oh, cookies and donuts too.
 
it's tomorrow? what time?

Even if I drive to our Red Bank office, it's still an hour away without any traffic. Our FYE was last Friday, so I'm starting from zero again.
 
I'll add my condensed report. I did the B's Saturday at Hippo as well and it was a blast. I practiced some starts the Thursday before the race and it paid off as shown in Mike's pic. I went hard and clipped in and by the first turn I was clear and in the lead. HOLESHOT!!! Holy sh*t! I was trying to start well but not that well. I HATE racing from the front. I decided to just keep a hard pace - not too hard - and ride it out. I got passed by Jeff J. who snapped his chain approaching the start. Then a short while later two others passed me on lap 2. One of the two that passed took a spill and I got by. That was it. I chased the leader and kept the gap to third and finished second. I was totally not expecting that result. I thought I was definitely at a disadvantage on an open course like that. I want mud or some tech to really benefit me. It almost all worked out in the end though. I definitely wasn't catching 1st although he wasn't far. I was super happy to have that good of a race!

I'm definitely stealing this pic...
hippo holeshot.png
 
Caffeinated CX was this past weekend. I was sitting 5th on the first lap fighting for position. On the second lap I picked off one after another. Towards the end of the lap before the sandpit I made a hard pass trying to take the lead and rolled and burped my tire and flopped on the ground. Front was too low to race well.

I pitted to get my spare bike and missed the pit exit. Crap. I get back out in 7th place now. I had to charge as hard as I could on my pitbike which is awful compared to my race bike. I did the best I could and I passed 1 racer and then I was in no mans land. I finished 6th. I felt pretty good. Who knows what would have happened if I didn't have a mechanical.
 
xc62701 said:
Crap. I get back out in 7th place now.
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Were you in a HB kit? I was 8th behind you at that point. Thought I had a shot at catching you for 1/2 a lap then nope.

I was surprised how moderate the pace was the first lap. Seemed like the leaders were holding back quite a bit.
 
hotsauce said:
I was surprised how moderate the pace was the first lap. Seemed like the leaders were holding back quite a bit.
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Especially at a venue like that, the bike handling and not making a mistake (like burping a tire ;)) really take priority to full out death speed at every section of the course. it's like a ballet. I miss that venue.
 
pearl said:
Especially at a venue like that, the bike handling and not making a mistake (like burping a tire ;)) really take priority to full out death speed at every section of the course. it's like a ballet. I miss that venue.
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Agree. Being smooth was a bigger advantage than speed.
 
hotsauce said:
Were you in a HB kit? I was 8th behind you at that point. Thought I had a shot at catching you for 1/2 a lap then nope.

I was surprised how moderate the pace was the first lap. Seemed like the leaders were holding back quite a bit.
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Yep that was me. Yea the first lap wasn't crazy. There was a lot of struggling in the woods that helped with that.
 
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