Chronicles of a Cat 3 Schlub

MadisonDan said:
That work with massive amounts of sweat?
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Yes. Just do it before you start sweating. The trick is to spray just enough glue on, let it dry for a 30 seconds to get it a little tacky, and then slap it on. If you do it right you'll get a perfectly smooth number and it'll come off with minimum residue.

I usually use the same jersey or skinsuit all season, so if there's a little glue on, I really don't GAF cause it's always covered by a number anyway.

I use pins too though because sometimes I forget my glue. Nothing worse than pinning a number on and then dropping a PRD and having it rip a little, and then you have to do it all over again or you get the flapping.
 
jShort said:
I usually use the same jersey or skinsuit all season, so if there's a little glue on, I really don't GAF cause it's always covered by a number anyway.
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This covers both cases. I have gone entire cross seasons where I pin the number at the first race, then leave the pins in all year. I will be doing that this year.

Also, if you can hear your number flapping while you are racing, go harder. Of you keep pushing you will eventually reach a point where all you hear is the sound of blood pumping through your brain.
 
Jeffreywoliver said:
I’d rather pin, than glue. 95% of the time I wear my jersey outside of racing and Ive seen the mess that glue leaves behind.
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Yeah. Glue is, well it’s glue, right? How many of us have kids? How many of those kids have used glue? Does it ever end well?

Of course you can say the same thing about giving kids a box of pins. So in the end, whatever.

Hammer & nails?
 
I'll be doing the TNR race numbers again this year. $1.50 per race vs the ENORMOUS hassle of pins. 11 years of cx, and I still can't get it right. Wait, that pretty much describes, um, everything I do in cx.
 
seanrunnette said:
I'll be doing the TNR race numbers again this year. $1.50 per race vs the ENORMOUS hassle of pins.
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seanrunnette said:
I'll be doing the TNR race numbers again this year. $1.50 per race vs the ENORMOUS hassle of pins. 11 years of cx, and I still can't get it right. Wait, that pretty much describes, um, everything I do in cx.
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I've been staring at the order page for a while. It left a bit of stickiness on the suit, but I did also leave the number on until I got home. Otherwise, I think they were great and laid super flat. There's also an Amazon alternative. Why are there always options to make things difficult.
 
@pearl is right. CX is like golfing during a firefight, and then throwing your clubs into a fiery pit at the conclusion of each round. And punching your own face for good measure. I think Rich Dad Poor Dad is about a Triathlete and a CX racer, right? Cautionary tale.
That said: TNR TAPE. They're still beta-testing stuff, so if you're nice, you might get free crap. Like lil squares of tape.
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2018 CX Participation Season!!!!

After an unmotivated summer and a back injury playing beach volleyball on vacation in Mexico at the middle/end of August, coupled with coaching Trevor's soccer games on Saturday evenings and Will's travel to NNL competitions, this season is shaping up to look like a 5 or 6 race season. This is ok with me, as I get to do more stuff with the kids, and still do a few races....

Town Hall Cross - Men's Cat 3/4

The B race was at noon, and the Master's 40+ was at 3:30pm. Trevor had a soccer game at 5pm, and the drive was 1:15, so I chose the B race. That's how my schedule will work this year mostly. I had everything packed Friday night, and got out of the house at about 8am on Saturday morning.
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Uneventful drive to the venue, and I rolled in about 10 minutes after 9, as the 4/5 race was underway. Started to unpack some of my stuff/set up the trainer while keeping an eye out for @Magic and @Santapez to pass by. Steve came by first, in mismatching sprinkles bib shorts and our O&B baggy trail jersey. What the actual fuck? @MissJR runs our kit orders. How does this happen? Look good, or ride fast. Choose one. 0 for 2.
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Shortly after, @Magic came rolling thru, looking very pro on his new Van Dessel whip. I made sure he knew Steve was very far ahead, and this was unacceptable.

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I snapped a few pics, rolled around to the S/F area and chatted with @seanrunnette @MissJR and @harryhamilton for a little bit, then jumped on the course after the 4/5 finished for a pre-ride.

I knew the lower field was out this year, and they added a little jaunt thru the woods with some gravel. So I hop on the course and make my way around, and then I get to the hill. F that hill. Yo go up the left side, switchback style, get to the top, then roll part way down before a sweeping left to go back up the steep part. Straight up. I'm definitely not in good shape this year, which became painfully apparent as I shifted down thru the gears in the cassette to find one that was't too painful. I ran out of gears. Fuck. This is pre-ride. I'm going easy, looking at lines and mud holes. And I can barely turn the cranks over. I'm running a 1x setup. It's how I bought the bike. 11/32 cassette with a 42t WolfTooth DropStop chain ring. Wasn't a problem last year. Gonna be a rough race. So anyway, I finish up my lap, and head to registration to get my number.
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I watch the Masters 50+ and 60+ go off and chat a little more with peeps while watching the race.
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Holy shit. The front of the 50+ race is 5 guys all together for the first 4 laps or so. Then it was 4. Just before the finish in the last few turns, 1 and 2 have a gap on 3 and 4. Harry is in 4th. Somehow, 1 and 2 get tangled up a little, and one of them goes down. The other guy soft pedals to the finish line AND THEN STOPS 2 YARDS PAST THE LINE!!! Well, here comes three and for sprinting for the finish! Winner/line blocker got relegated to 4th, dude who crashed got the win, and Harry and the other guy tied for 2nd.

After that, I rode one more pre-ride lap, hit the trainer, then finished 41st of 48.

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Next up is Lucky Charm CX on Saturday. 1/2/3 Race.
 
MissJR said:
concerning Steve's kit:

i do not dress him. if he wants a little of both kits, fine with me. as long as his shorts aren't bothering @jShort then we're all good.

and here:

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There is a line, if someone is close to the line, they may be able to pull it off. Also, if they are waaaaay on either side it could be that cool guy who can pull off wearing a cut off jean jacket or flannel and cut off shorts. It also helps if you can rip people legs off.

In this case, I am with @jShort, for the sake of mtbnj’s Reputation, dudeman needs help.
 
stb222 said:
There is a line, if someone is close to the line, they may be able to pull it off. Also, if they are waaaaay on either side it could be that cool guy who can pull off wearing a cut off jean jacket or flannel and cut off shorts. It also helps if you can rip people legs off.

In this case, I am with @jShort, for the sake of mtbnj’s Reputation, dudeman needs help.
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Lucky Charm CX, Men’s Cat 1/2/3

WTF? 1/2/3????

Yeah, you heard me right. Why finish almost last in a 45 minute race when you can finish almost last in a 60 minute race?
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Actually, 12pm start time worked better than 2:45pm start time.
Sorry, I don’t have a “Coaching Soccer Bitches" Meme and I’m too lazy to create one

So anyway, I get to Craigmeur about 8:20am, park the car, unload some stuff, then bring some necessities up to our team tent, after chatting with @seanrunnette for a quick spell.

I really enjoy the base camp setup with the tent, and it’s great to see so many people (back) out at CX races. I hopped on course for a total of three pre-ride laps, after each of the earlier races finished. My warmup before my race consisted of going back and forth to my car three times for different things I forgot and to pee twice.

I head over to the staging area, and we’re all looking at each other’s numbers trying to figure out how they’re doing call ups. Is evens then odds? Backwards from 100? The lowest number was 70.
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So, yeah. Second row for me, in the Cat 1/2/3. Hello Registration Order!! Given the caliber of this field, this was almost comical. Ryan thanks everyone for coming out, the official gives the one minute, then 30 seconds, followed almost immediately by the whistle and we’re off!

I thankfully clip in flawlessly and hit the gas up towards the gravel as I slip into a more natural position of almost last. We hit the first left handed a little hot and I hear some sketch in front of me, but erryone stays upright. We go they the first few turns to get to the clover field and I settle into a group of three as we watch the field ride away. These are my people. This is my race. We kinda are sort of together for a bit, then one guy, Mike gets a little gap and slowly pulls away. About two laps in and the other guy is now in front of me as we exit the lower field and start climbing back up. Here I am, DFL. Could be worse. Better than DNS. I come thru the S/F area on lap 3? and see Mike off the course chatting with someone. “Hey! No fair! Get back out here and suffer like the rest of us!” He shrugs.

There’s still no lap card after 3, maybe 4 laps. FML. At some point I passed the other guy that was just in front of me. He was fixing his chain or having tea and a scone or something. I don’t know, I didn’t stop and ask.

Now the leaders are coming thru. Maybe that was a lap or two ago. Not sure. Probably. Yeah, that happened already. The one dude I passed is still back there though, he’s not stopping.

I keep going, hard as I can. HR as high as I can hold it. Low 180’s mostly. At some point @Magic handed me a chocolate chip cookie, I managed to eat half and mash the other half into my shifter hoods and bar tape, which was a nice feel for the next few laps. I was able to ride that one corner by the tennis court every lap but one, ran the wooden steps and the steps by the lower lot every lap, and did 7 laps to the leaders 9. 61 minuets of participating to finish 23 of 25.

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No idea what’s next.
 
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jShort said:
Just keep racing. And mashing cookies in your face hole.
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good idea.

I think I'm 50/50 for Hippo and Bubble. HPCX is 98% out. Marty's is 100% out. SuperCross I's say 75% in. Similar odds for Apple and WayWay. Sussex is out 100%.
This all is subject to change for no reason.
 
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