I am a Bicycle Addict.: BA Cyclocross 4

The 2003 Bike Authority Cyclocross Series

November 9th, 2003

New venue and new people to race with. Don Frey got his new Independent Fabrications cross bike and is planning on his first cross race. A couple of his work friends are coming out also... the more the merrier.

I've been doing some work on the bike for this race. I changed out the V-brakes for a set of Avid Shorty 6 canti's and I've added a double chain ring. I ordered a Ritchey crank with a 48-38, but it hasn't arrived yet. So I'm running a straight 53-39 on the front. I did some test riding during the week, and everything is running smooth.

The day is nice. It's sunny and dry and about 50 degrees. As usual, I've brought every piece of clothing I own... gotta love this "winter" riding.

The Course

The course is at "The Fields" in Broadview Heights. It's just down the road from Bike Authority, the sponsoring shop.

It's an interesting course. Lot's of terrain and different surfaces. We start on a paved climb, go around a soccer Field and across a gravel parking lot. The first barrier is a large log at the edge of the lot. There is one ridable location on the log. On my first warm up lap, I tried it, hooked my rear wheel and went down. No damage, just a warning to watch my technique here.

After the log, there is a switchback, and we go around and through another set of soccer fields. Then we head into a walking path through the woods. Most of this is ridable, there are two gully crossings that are not. Both are steep on both sides. The first one has a small ridable log in front of it, the second has a pair of log piles before it. After the second gully, there's a short climb to another log pile that is ridable, before some twisty single track type stuff leads you out of the woods and back into the fields.

After twisting to the finish line, the course continues to twist to a fast, short gravel decent into a ravine. At the bottom we take a left, cross a bridge, and climb up the other side of the ravine. At the top, we crossed a larger gravel parking lot, and then start a circuit around the baseball fields. This is a mix of grass and gravel that leads us back to the gravel parking lot. On the other side of the lot is a wicked fast sledding hill that leads back to the start line.

The Pre-Race

Ah... prep time. I'm trying to figure out how to warm up effectively to be ready when the race starts. Don and I caravaned to the course, and arrived real close to 11:00 for a 12:00 start. I've been drinking lots of water since Saturday evening, and continue trying to hydrate effectively. I've got my water bottle, Accelerade bottle and a Red Bull as well as a PowerBar and a gel for my pre-race fuel.

I get dressed quickly and take off for my first pre-lap. Easy pace, just checking out the course here... After NOT clearing the first log, I try to ride the gullies. Not going to be successful doing that. Then I try to ride the last log barrier and make that. OK, we're getting somewhere now. I like having the 39 chain ring (as opposed to the 42 I've been running) especially on the gravel and road climbs. I'm still on the 27, but they're comfortable climbs.

After the first lap, Don and his friends are ready to go, so we head out for my second lap. I lead the way, and complete another moderate pass.

I'm slowly picking up the pace with each warm up lap. Between laps, I'm adjusting my clothing and drinking... and drinking. I'm not going to carry anything for the race except a gel... just in case. Almost start time, I took another swig and headed for the line.

The Race

Again there are lots of people here. There are almost 30 B racers this week and the line is crowded. I got into a nice space in the second row behind the REALLY fast guys. I'm just hoping to push the first lap, get into a rhythm, and then push the end.

We start with the climb, so the usual fast start is now fast and hard. I take off and just try to follow wheels. I've raced with a lot of these guys before, so I'm trying to pick wheels of guys that finished around me in the past.

First lap is usually mayhem, there are lots of people going over the barriers and through the technical stuff, so I'm going to dismount at everything. This is why a good start is so crucial. By the time we passed through the woods and start the second climb, I'm in 12th (or so) place. I feel fine, so I start to push around people as I find the chance.

At the sledding hill, I find a huge advantage. I LOVE to take that hill all out. I've got a good line that deposits me with some speed at the base of the first climb, so I use that on every lap. The first lap is a bit nervy, because I passed 2 riders on the decent.

So, I've got a pattern setup. Slowly work my way up to the next rider. Sit on for a bit, to recover and see how I'm doing, then push past and start again. I think I was in about 8th place, when I realized I was pulling a line of about 4 riders up to Kevin Ward. Kevin has beat me in the 2 races he's been at. So, I'm feeling pretty well. I sit on his wheel as we make our way around the last soccer field. Shortly before we hit the woods, he says I can come around whenever I want. I was fine where I was, until we made the turn into the woods. There was one spot where I had space to pass right after that turn. Which turned out to be really effective. I passed him, and was able to ride away through the woods. I think the guys that I towed along, then had to sit behind Kevin until he was out of the woods.

After passing Kevin, I see Phil Hines running his bike through the single track. Phil has finished second in 2 of the 3 races. He would have finished second in the third, but the Bill Marut broke his chain, so Phil won it. I'm thinking Phil has mechanical problems, because I should NOT be able to catch him.

After the woods, he gets back on the bike and rides on. I figure, I'll just keep riding. I start slowly reeling him in. At the top of the start climb, I catch him and I suggest we work together, and go after the next guy up the road. So I pull to the log barrier, and I let Phil come around to pull through the soccer fields. Then I realize he is not having his best day. After a very short pull, I come around again, and just ride. Phil stays with me, and even does another pull into the woods. But after the first gully, he runs the bike, instead of riding it. I passed him there and then rode away.

All this time, Phil and I were chasing a guy on a mountain bike. I thought I knew who it was, but when I saw it was Chris Aron, I was even more surprised. Chris has been finishing top 5 (4,3,5) in the races, and I'm closing in!

Phil was still right behind me when I rode over the last log pile. As I started it, I noticed the top log had moved, so my move would have to change. That was enough of a distraction and I went down. I think I was more worried about Phil passing me, but I'm pretty sure he was still running. I got back up hopped on and finished a very messy ride out of the woods. I was all over the trail... and nothing like smooth. I was only thinking of the advice "If you can't clear them every time, carry your bike. You loose more time falling once than all the time you make up riding the barriers." I got up quickly, so I hoped that wasn't true.

Phil caught back on over the grass and ravine areas and was saying something about not liking the woods section. I was back to a smooth ride and as we came up to the sledding hill, I pushed it. Hmm... I guess you could say I attacked! That was the last I saw of Phil, and Chris was only about half way up the start hill. I followed Chris, slowly closing in on him. I caught him somewhere around the woods.

As we came out, they were ringing the bell... last lap. OK, Now I'm going to put everything into finishing strong. I pretty much sat on Chris's wheel as we rode through the ravine and up the gravel climb. I'm happy to see I'm still hanging in. I've been looking up the road, and haven't seen anyone in a while. So I have no idea how far back we are. I just figured Chris and Phil are having a hard time with this course.

So, as we approached the sledding hill, I attacked again. I put everything into this one, because there was only a half lap to go, and I know Chris is really fast. As I crested the hill, and saw I had a gap. So I pushed again. I just wanted to hold him off to the finish, but wasn't sure I could. I pushed it hard, and looked for him at the switch back. At that point I started to think I could make it. As I went into the woods, I knew I had enough of a gap... as long as I didn't make any big mistakes. So I finished strong, but conservative. I carried all the barriers, even the one I'd ridden. Then pushed it to the end.

Finish

As I came through the line I saw Brett Davis had finished, so I pulled over and asked how he did. He was 3rd.

Chris came through 30 seconds behind and stopped. Nice battle, nice finish. I had no idea where I was placement wise, but Chris thought I was 4th and he was 5th! Which would mean he was were he should be, and I had a superb day!

Final was 4th place, 7 laps in 58:06! I'm still 1:20 off the winning pace, and 1:08 off third place, but this is a huge result for me. At first I thought it was due to my single track skills, which may have helped. Being able to ride the 2 log barriers had to save me some time and it certainly got me in front of Phil Hines (6 th). But I really think it was my gearing which helped me use my climbing that made the difference. There was enough climbing to make the 39 chain ring a necessity. I'm also sure my all out descending helped a lot too.

Post

Don had a good race. He finished 25th out of 32 riders and 29 males. 6 laps in 1:07:15. A good finish for his first cross experience on a bike he hasn't ridden before and still needs loads of setup work.

After about 3 laps, I heard Rick Adams cheering me on... he was cheering for Chris also, and I kept surprising him as I closed the gap to Chris. Rick took some pics of the race.... so here's the list.