jackx
Well-Known Member
I was inspired to try Cyclocross Racing this season. I think it was a combination of Pearl's spreadsheet on the True Cost of Cyclocross racing, and also accounts such as Mountain Bike Mike's, as well as delving into the "Sticky threads" in the Cross section. Also, it might have been because I was looking into buying a used cross bike for the upcoming winter as well as for riding more dirt roads. Recently, I resurrected my 21 year old full rigid 26" KHS Montana MTB thinking it would be closer to a cross bike, but it doesn't afford me the confidence to race.
Marty Cross: Saturday October 25, 2014
I did my first cyclocross race this past Saturday at Marty Cross in the Cat 5 (D) class.
The CX bike purchase didn't pan out so I raced on my full suspension 29er. I was happy to see that the Cat 5 start time was not the first group of the day, but rather was at 11:01 am. This was great so it was not so early and also to let the grass dry out from the sun and earlier races. The Highland-Ridge Park venue in Chester is local for me. Other than the hilly nature of this course, I figured it was a great place to do a first CX race and the weather turned out to be fantastic. It was nice to meet some new people and reaquaint with others.
I arrived at the venue and parked at the bottom area (past the barn) around 9:45 am. I completed my registration and got my 1-day license. I walked back down to the car and got changed. I rode a bit around the roads on the bottom area as well as up to the start area. I didn't pre-ride as I wasn't sure when exactly we could go on the course, and also I thought that our number might have to be hidden if we were pre-riding and not currently racing. And it was too warm for me to wear a jacket to cover my number. As it was, I was over-dressed with my long-sleeved jersey. Also, 2 days prior, on Thursday evening, I had ridden 5 laps of the wet course so I was familiar enough with it. Fortunately I pre rode the course on Thursday going the correct direction for the Saturday races. My wife drove separately and it was nice to have her for race support and cheering. I could hear her cheering, but oddly no cowbell.
At the Start, I was relegated to the rear of the pack as I had a high number and I was one of the last to line up. There were some 56 registered racers for Cat. 5 as well as some "Day of" registrants. I started on the right inside lane. When the whistle blew, I sprinted to the extreme inside and passed a row of about 6 on my left. Shortly thereafter there was a collision in the 6 or 7th row and at least 3 riders went down, with 2 bikes tangled, with another cartwheeling from the left side to the right towards my path. I sprinted hard up the inside right and managed to get by before the bike cartwheeled behind me. Unfortunately, I was still quite a ways behind the front riders. By the short time that I was going down the hill between North Road and the white barn, the leaders were already over the double barriers. With regard to the barriers, I was initially concerned about having a dual suspension 29er to portage, but it was surprisingly easy, probably due to my forward momentum and the excitement of the race. The double barriers were spaced close enough together that it was just 1 carry and not 2 so I did not roll the bike between barriers. A lot of racers seemed to stop pedaling like 30 feet from the barrier and coast up to it, so I made up some time by continuing to pedal. Also, remounting on the slight incline was easier than I expected. I lowered my seat about 3/4 of an inch before the race so that remounting would be easier.
Going down the off-camber switchback in traffic was challenging especially as some other racers fell around me. On the steepest pitch, I locked up my rear wheel at least once, but I was no worse as I only lost a bit of speed. At the bottom section of the course, i.e. the lower area located the very farthest away from the Finish area, I seemed to make up time on a number of racers. It seemed to be due to the MTB that I was able to take some of those turns faster/more aggressively on the wider MTB tires and so I could carry more speed through the turns. I pretty much always unclipped my left foot on the big sweeping left turn at the bottom, but didn't need to put it down. Good that Matt The Heckler was not there with his bullhorn as I later heard Cat 4 (C) riders heckled for this infraction when they traversed down the switchback on the large hill.
The short steep climb wasn't too bad, although on the first lap, I was dislodged from my bike due to traffic. After going by the pit area and then crossing over the pavement to the other side of the course, it seemed that I was able to make some passes and/or make up some time going down to the back of the course. On the false flats going back towards the start area, on the early laps, I got passed back by some riders, whereas later on, I was able to maintain a nice gap over the riders I had just passed. I was not able to bridge up to 2 more riders in the final minute of the last lap.
I would definitely say that I passed more racers than passed me, although some were back-and-forth battles. Although some of the riders might have been from the Cat 4 Masters 40+ that started 1 minute before Cat 5.
I had a great time and I finished 30th and on the same lap as the leaders. I met my goals to have fun, finish mid-pack or better, and not get lapped by the leaders.
Marty Cross: Saturday October 25, 2014
I did my first cyclocross race this past Saturday at Marty Cross in the Cat 5 (D) class.
The CX bike purchase didn't pan out so I raced on my full suspension 29er. I was happy to see that the Cat 5 start time was not the first group of the day, but rather was at 11:01 am. This was great so it was not so early and also to let the grass dry out from the sun and earlier races. The Highland-Ridge Park venue in Chester is local for me. Other than the hilly nature of this course, I figured it was a great place to do a first CX race and the weather turned out to be fantastic. It was nice to meet some new people and reaquaint with others.
I arrived at the venue and parked at the bottom area (past the barn) around 9:45 am. I completed my registration and got my 1-day license. I walked back down to the car and got changed. I rode a bit around the roads on the bottom area as well as up to the start area. I didn't pre-ride as I wasn't sure when exactly we could go on the course, and also I thought that our number might have to be hidden if we were pre-riding and not currently racing. And it was too warm for me to wear a jacket to cover my number. As it was, I was over-dressed with my long-sleeved jersey. Also, 2 days prior, on Thursday evening, I had ridden 5 laps of the wet course so I was familiar enough with it. Fortunately I pre rode the course on Thursday going the correct direction for the Saturday races. My wife drove separately and it was nice to have her for race support and cheering. I could hear her cheering, but oddly no cowbell.
At the Start, I was relegated to the rear of the pack as I had a high number and I was one of the last to line up. There were some 56 registered racers for Cat. 5 as well as some "Day of" registrants. I started on the right inside lane. When the whistle blew, I sprinted to the extreme inside and passed a row of about 6 on my left. Shortly thereafter there was a collision in the 6 or 7th row and at least 3 riders went down, with 2 bikes tangled, with another cartwheeling from the left side to the right towards my path. I sprinted hard up the inside right and managed to get by before the bike cartwheeled behind me. Unfortunately, I was still quite a ways behind the front riders. By the short time that I was going down the hill between North Road and the white barn, the leaders were already over the double barriers. With regard to the barriers, I was initially concerned about having a dual suspension 29er to portage, but it was surprisingly easy, probably due to my forward momentum and the excitement of the race. The double barriers were spaced close enough together that it was just 1 carry and not 2 so I did not roll the bike between barriers. A lot of racers seemed to stop pedaling like 30 feet from the barrier and coast up to it, so I made up some time by continuing to pedal. Also, remounting on the slight incline was easier than I expected. I lowered my seat about 3/4 of an inch before the race so that remounting would be easier.
Going down the off-camber switchback in traffic was challenging especially as some other racers fell around me. On the steepest pitch, I locked up my rear wheel at least once, but I was no worse as I only lost a bit of speed. At the bottom section of the course, i.e. the lower area located the very farthest away from the Finish area, I seemed to make up time on a number of racers. It seemed to be due to the MTB that I was able to take some of those turns faster/more aggressively on the wider MTB tires and so I could carry more speed through the turns. I pretty much always unclipped my left foot on the big sweeping left turn at the bottom, but didn't need to put it down. Good that Matt The Heckler was not there with his bullhorn as I later heard Cat 4 (C) riders heckled for this infraction when they traversed down the switchback on the large hill.
The short steep climb wasn't too bad, although on the first lap, I was dislodged from my bike due to traffic. After going by the pit area and then crossing over the pavement to the other side of the course, it seemed that I was able to make some passes and/or make up some time going down to the back of the course. On the false flats going back towards the start area, on the early laps, I got passed back by some riders, whereas later on, I was able to maintain a nice gap over the riders I had just passed. I was not able to bridge up to 2 more riders in the final minute of the last lap.
I would definitely say that I passed more racers than passed me, although some were back-and-forth battles. Although some of the riders might have been from the Cat 4 Masters 40+ that started 1 minute before Cat 5.
I had a great time and I finished 30th and on the same lap as the leaders. I met my goals to have fun, finish mid-pack or better, and not get lapped by the leaders.
