Olentangy Caverns - 9/15/2007

It's CYCLOCROSS SEASON!

The story goes like this. It's one of my two daughter's birthday and my wife and the girls have a "ladies" conference in down town Columbus, so my wife asks me if we want to make this a family trip. My son and I can travel down with them, spend the night at a hotel with a pool so the kids can play. And then she says "maybe you can find a race or something" to do with my son on Saturday while they do the girl thing. Well, it turns out that COBC is putting on the first cyclocross race of the Cap City Cross series a short distance away, and the timing is perfect. The A race ends one hour before I'll have to pick the girls up, so if I must, I guess I'll race... AND it's all my wife's idea! I LOVE that woman.

So, we travel Friday night, and when we check into the hotel, it turns out the pool is outside! It's about 50 degrees, so the pool ideas are just out... I never thought a hotel would have an OUTDOOR pool... oh well, it's still a fun evening.

The plan was to drop the girls off at 9:00am, and head straight to Olentangy Indian Caverns. My son and I could explore the caverns before the race, I'd still have plenty of time to preride, and get everything ready. We left the hotel at 8:30, and found a flat tire on the van... best laid plans are shot. I changed the tire, and got the girls to the Auditorium by 9:10, and then spent the morning getting the tire fixed. So much for the fun part.

We arrived at 11:30, just enough time to get a little wrenching done, and get signed in before the C race went off at noon. My son opted out of the race, so we did some spectating together.... one guy rolled off the front and had a 30 second gap by half way through the first lap. He held that until the end.... and the sandbagger thoughts were planted in my mind.

My plan was to do the double. The B race was listed as a 3/4 and the A race was a 1/2/3. The joy of being a cat 3 crosser, I can do either. Since I'd never raced against these guys before, I had no idea how I'd do... or what size the field would be. Rick and Dave were also coming down to do the B race, and Dave said he might also do the double... but he was much more tentative at it.

It's been about 2 years since I've done a double, where I would race the B race for place, and the A race for training... double the length of the workout, and work on form through the barriers, and do my best to not get lapped. This time, my plan was to do the B race as a warmup for the A race, or so I thought. I guess I really didn't have a plan. I'm out of practice at this thing.

People laugh at how early I arrive at a venue for a cross race. I just hate getting rushed to get ready. I like to take a long warmup, look at the course, and just not get insane.

The course was pretty nice. Probably 60% grass, with some really nice switchbacks. 2 sets of barriers, both near the finish. The first set was on the flat heading into the finish switchbacks. There was an easy downhill right after the line, leading to a left hander around some bushes straight into the second barrier set, forcing the dismount to an easy run up. You could either shoulder, or roll the bike through the long barrier set. The course then wound it's way around another down and up, then more twists to the woods. The wooded section had some loose sandy soil, a tight drop to a narrow bridge that was pretty harrowing, because it was not a straight shot to the bridge, but had a little twist to get the bike lined up right, and it was pretty loose on that descent. Then came some more twisty single track, and then some gravel leading through the "Frontier Village", and back to the grass with a couple of gravel road crossings.

I chose to race the Tufo's since the course is dry and should be fast. The temp was at 65, and my clothing was all screwed up. I warmed up with base layer for two laps, but wanted to drop clothing during the race. It's about start time, and I'm screwing around with a wardrobe malfunction since my number is pinned through to the base! I'm last to the line, and when I try to move through the group to get to the back, no one makes any space.... Then Dave, lined up front row, gives up his prime spot to me. Are you sure?! He's got a prime location, so I take it....

There are about 25 on the line, with the 45+/35+ and women's fields mixed in the group. A couple of instructions on how the payout will go. Top three overall get the good prizes, then top spot in each age group will get a prize. Cool, the whistle blows and we're off!

I get a good start, though the rear wheel slipped a couple of times, and that probably only screwed up Dave... who should have been right on my wheel. Once I get the contact right, I'm away in second wheel into the first turn behind an Alan rider. He takes the first turn wide, and I pull to the front... and go! through the first set of barriers, and the finish line and I've got a gap!

A GAP!!!! Now what? I start to think... mistake number one! Thinking during cross is a bad idea, do I need to make any more mistakes? So the C racer opened a gap from the start... am I bagging this race? I back off, and let the next guys catch back on, and then just push easy from there. I lead three guys away. I'm first into the woods, and one of the guys says "don't back off, we've got a good gap!" I don't respond, I keep an easy pace through the woods. I start thinking... I've got another race that I want to do well in... I'm not going to set tempo for these guys all race.

Once out of the woods, I let the others come around, and I go into racing defensively. I'll just sit on, and use this for a warm up race. From the back of this group, I can see that I've got the best form through the barriers... even though I'm not as clean as I like to be... first race problems, I should have practised more barrier running, but I'm still pretty clean and comfortable. I'm also taking the switchbacks nice and tight and accelerating away cleanly. Overall I'm pretty happy with the technical aspects... and I feel fit.

As we hit the finish line for lap 1, the official gives us the 5 to go sign. Dave is in fifth alone about 500m back. Through the next two laps, it's about like this. Dave is maintaining the gap, I'm staying in between 2nd and 4th wheel, just watching the guys through the race. I don't feel like I'm going all out, and feel in control of the race. 4 guys away for 3 spots. I'm fine. Dave is sitting in fifth spot, so this should be the race.

My group of four includes the Alan rider, and an Echelon guy on cross bikes, and a Bike Source guy on a mountain bike. Bike Source seems the strongest of the three and is pushing the pace the most. The Echelon guy keeps fading off the back.

I'm having a bit of trouble with the way the Tufo's drift through the turns in the sand and dirt in the woods. I know that it's how the tires hook up, but I seem to be fighting the bike instead of relaxing and letting it float. I know it's just the "first race of the season" thing, and I'll get used to it soon, but it's still a bit unnerving. It turns out the Alan guy is having the same trouble with his tires, and we even chat a bit about it... as we head out of the village, and I notice the Bike Source guy has a nice gap. So I jumped up to him.

I thought this was the race! We're away, the two "weaker guys" are a good 100 meters behind. Mistake two... I don't finish the job and drill it past the Bike Source guy. I just sit on.... in short order, the other two come back and we're four again. Heading into 3 laps to go, I started to feel like garbage... like I'm ready to hurl. This isn't a "I've pushed so hard I'm going to puke" thing, it's a "I ate something not quite right before my race" thing. It passes shortly, but I'm fourth wheel and Alan and Bike Source now have a gap.

Through the finish, heading into the barriers, I'm pushing a big gear... and have a little trouble getting through the barrier run up. Echelon opens a small gap through the barriers, and when I jump back on the bike, the gap opens when I'm in the wrong gear! The wrong gear? Stupid details, I didn't down shift going into the barriers... mistake three! And a costly one, now I've got a gap to close, and I'm not feeling it. I still have an A race to do, right?

I'll close this in a minute. I'm going to wait until 2 to go, then drill it. So I get around the course, still fighting the bike a bit. 2 to go, I start increasing the pace. The gap is steady, I fight harder through the woods. Bell lap, and the three of them are also humping it. I'm not closing the gap. They drill it out of the woods I guess, cause the gap is way to big for me to close. I don't give up until I'm heading into the barriers, and I see they are finishing it up. Echelon takes the win ahead of Bike Source, and Alan rolls in for third. I've got fourth easy... first loser spot.

I really screwed Dave's race with my start slips. He got taken into the bushes on the start, and then was held up on the single track.... which is not his strong place anyway, so why would someone be holding him up in there... He got around everyone and had fifth, faded to sixth, and in the chase to get that spot back crashed hard and lost another spot. Rick also had a bad start, but that one wasn't my fault this time. He worked his race hard to come in 8th right behind Dave.

In hind site, I should have lined up at the back, and worked my way up. Especially since this is almost surely the only race I'll do in this series. It would have been good practice for me. Instead, I felt like I threw the race away. I'm not saying I could have won, but I really think I could have gotten on the podium if I'd stayed with the group. If I'd just raced my bike instead of thinking... Boy, did I screw that one up. Too busy thinking about the A race to do well in the B's... and I blew it on what should have been my strong point... a technical detail. It turns out the bagging thing may have been real. I was albout a minute behind the front three, and the next guy was about a minute back. So if I'd have done what I think I was capable of, we'd have beaten the next guy by 2 minutes.

After the race, I quickly downed some gu and some liquids, I changed my wheelset to the Michelin Muds because I didn't want to practice the drift any more. I also changed my glasses, since the dark lenses were screwing with my depth perception in the woods. I was hoping I'd cleaned up all the annoyances before lining up for the A race. The Echelon and Bike Source guys were also doubling... so I'll be racing them again as the guys that bite off a large chunk. Dave decides he's done for the day... he's still got a two and a half hour drive home too.

10 guys at the start. I hand all my stuff to Rick, and we're off again. From the start I feel fine, and am about midpack. Heading to the barrier set about 4 of the front 6 miss the left, and go off course, only to come back in. Fun times. Through the barriers, the finish and into the barriers. The run up kills my legs! Come on, it's only another 9 laps. The field pulls away over the barriers, but I can keep them close. Over the road, left turn down a short hill, and loop around a large brush section before heading back uphill... my legs are screaming, and I say to Rick "This is stupid!" I contemplate jumping off the bike, but figure what will I do then? It's not like I can go home or anything. Just practice cyclocross and get in a good workout.

I loose some ground on the first lap, but I keep it close and the legs are starting to come around again. Second lap, over the road and around the bushes and my chain bounces off the front ring... hard. I have to hop off and drag it back onto the ring... SHOOT! The field is now gone. There is one woman still behind me, but I haven't seen her since the first run up.

So this race is going to be about practising technique by myself... and maybe I can bring one or two guys back... I'm pretty far back, cause I don't get a lap card when I come through. I crossed the road, and around the bush, and my chain comes off again! What's this? Off the bike, grab the chain and get it back running. You'd think I'd learn, but now... it happened a third time, three laps in a row!

By now, my legs feel fine, and I'm just racing my own pace. Trying to get the technical thing going. I figure out I need to keep pressure on the pedals through the "chain drop" section to keep the bike together. The rest of the race is mostly uneventful. The bike holds together for me, though I know I've got to adjust that third eye when we're done.

The two A&F guys are working together at the front and end up closing in on me and almost have me with 5 laps to go. I hold them off until right before the woods. They pass me, and I sit on their wheel as they work the bridge and the single track. I hold onto them without trouble... strange, so I must be going reasonably well... those three chain drops really hurt my time. Once out of the woods though, the front guy says something to the second guy, and they drill it. I hold on for a bit, but they open it up and are gone.

3 laps to go, I can finish this. My body is sore from the pounding of the grass, third place guy catches me, and I tell him the A&F guys are backing off a lot through the woods. I'm caught by the fourth place guy during the last lap, and I drop my chain again after the last set of barriers before the finish line.

I ended up loosing about 1 minute per lap to the A&F guys. Which considering how much time I lost to dropped chains could have been the difference between getting lapped and not. My guess is the tire pressure in the mud's was too high for the course. I'd still had it near 60 from road riding, and never changed it. Between that and a change in how hard I was pushing through that section could have made the difference between loosing the chain in the A race, and smoothness of the B race. By now I'm up to mistake number 200.

In the grand scheme of things, I think I made all the mistakes I needed to at a race that was not really a target race. I'm disappointed in myself because I could have done better by only racing, or committing to, one race on the day. I knew that, but didn't concentrate. In fact, it seems concentration was what was lacking all day.

I do have to give prop's to COBC for putting on a great event. The venue was pretty cool, and hopefully next year the dates work out as well for me as they did this year. Very well run event. Here's to the success of the Cap City Cyclocross series. It was a great atmosphere as the B racers hung out and blew some stadium horns, and there were some cowbells going on... not quite up to the level of our own "SBR CX" atmosphere, but certainly a fun event.


There are some pics up already at
SmugMug
I suspect there will be lot's more as there were quite a few people shooting during the races.

Next weekend is the MI Cyclocross double.
KTR Michigan Double Cross
I'm heading up on Saturday, and if I do a double race, I'll commit to doing one for racing and one for practice...