November 16th, 2003
I'm loving this cyclocross stuff! My new crank set arrived, so I'll be running the 48/38 up front. I had a bit of trouble setting it up, because the 48 ring is not running true. I took it into the shop and the wrench straightened it up enough to run it... I'll see about sending it back after the race.
Another lovely day... cloudy threatening rain... and about 40 degrees. It's been dry most of the week, except fo Saturday night... when it wasn't.
The Course
We're at "The Fields" in Broadview Heights again. This time we're running the course backwards. So instead of bombing down the sledding hill, we'll be riding up it. They also took out the road section, since we'd be going down that... and replaced it with more dirt/grass downhill section before another field traversal. They also took out the gully crossings. This was replaced with a slight upgrade through the woods.
Last week's course was about 1.8 miles, this one ended up to be a bit closer to 2 miles.
The Pre-Race
I arrived at about 10:45 this time... plenty of time to get ready. I chatted a bit with Bill Marut about the course layout, got dressed and headed out for the reconnaissance.
More barriers... right after the finish line is a set of barriers. Then we head into the woods. The Saturday night rain has left the woods a bit slick. We hit the log pile that was ridable last weekend, and I decide to carry it through the race. I probably could ride it 50% of the time, but why take the chance.
The new section in the woods, is really wet also. The best practice is to stay seated in a medium gear for a light spin, to keep the rear wheel connected. Coming out of the woods, the trail dries out, and it's OK until the first turn around the soccer field.... where the mud pit is.
Between the soccer fields, they adjusted the big log crossing, so there was no ridable section. The log is about 2.5 to 3 feet in diameter... so it's a carry and hop.
After the last soccer field, we head to the first decent. This is a twisty, bumpy section that turns as you exit it. I tried to carry some speed through here on the warm up, and immediately washed out... again no damage, but a warning watch this section at race speeds.
Around the field, and head to the sledding hill. We approach the hill almost opposite to the direction of travel, so we have to make a turn of about 280+ degrees. There's plenty of setup room, and you can see it coming, so I tried to accelerate to get enough momentum to ride the hill. I could only make it about 80% up before stalling. So my strategy is to ride half way up, dismount and run it.
We cross the parking lot and around the baseball fields again, then hit another set of barriers before reentering the parking lot. We then drop down the ravine gravel path, across the bridge and back up the other side. The pitch of the hills are different than last week (because we're going backwards), and the turn at the bottom is sharper, so I feel we won't be able to carry as much speed through this section either.
Once we climb out of the ravine, we twist our way back across the finish line.
Most of my feelings here is they've removed all the advantage points I had from last weekend. Almost no descending... and though my climbing may still help, but it'll be harder to make up gaps.
My strategy for this week is to get a great start... settle in, and see if I can reel the leaders back in. I'm back to hydrating, running another warm up and eating some. Again a bottle of accelerade, a gel, and a red bull. Then more water.
15 minutes before the start, Rick shows up and is signing in. He asks me if he will hurl racing B's on his single speed. My reply is I'll probably hurl racing B's also, but he's not allowed to race C. I didn't have to point out that Don started in the B race....
Just about enough time to head to the line...
The Race
We're actually starting at the same place as last week. So we'll climb the road hill, turn left and head through the finish line. I get a good position at the front of the group. I've finished well, I've been to all the races, and none of the "favorites" are hidden in the group, so I'm feel like I deserve to be there.
The start is a bit funny, the starter did a count down, but slowed his pace as he went from 3...2.......1..........go. Some of the guy's actually got a 5 to 6 foot lead, then slowed and had to reaccelerate.
So, we're off. I got going pretty well, and half way through the climb am in a good spot behind Bill Marut. He pulled his foot out of the pedal and I swing around him. Phil Hines is still in front of me as we make the turn toward the finish line. But he starts to head the wrong way! I called to him and I'm the first one through the line and into the first set of barriers! This is exactly what I wanted... I got the hole shot!
I wasn't slowed by others through the barriers, so I let another guy go in front into the woods. The last 3 races, this guy has gone out REALLY hard, leading the race for a lap... then blows up and ends up somewhere really far down.
I'm second into the woods, so I figure the only people that'll pass me now, won't be slowing me down later. As I slog up the slight mud hill, another guy goes by. Through the hairpin turn I let a third go... As I come out of the woods, I'm at about 6th place. The leaders are opening up a big gap, but I'm on the rivet from my start. So, I start to settle in.
A couple more pass me, so I'm around 8th heading into the last soccer field. Through the decent and around the field. A girl on a mountain bike passes me at the base of the sledding hill. I chided myself not to let the testosterone kick in while asking who could this possibly be. Then I realize it's Tiffiny Kenny. I'm OK with a female pro passing me... She rides the sledding hill, while I do my dismount. I catch and pass her on the hill (running) and she passes me again at the top.
I'm feeling a bit recovered, so I start pushing the pace a bit. I'm sitting about 9th. Tiffany is ahead of another guy, as they both cut the course a bit. Nothing huge... but it was mentioned at the start. I caught the guy and mentioned it. Since the cut went through a sand pit, he's fine with not cutting it again. Tiffany is still up the road a bit.
Through the second set of barriers, and into the gravel decent. At the bottom of the decent I again pass Phil Hines! Turns out he took the decent too fast and wrecked on the bridge. As I pass him, I said we can't have a repeat of last week, let's go! My intention was to pull him back up and maybe get some help myself. He's still recovering fro the crash though and can't keep up. I think I passed the guy that blows up here also.
So I'm at about 7th at the end of the first lap. and am feeling pretty comfortable. There is a pretty good gap behind me, and I'm hold Tiffany Kenny in site. Through the woods, around the soccer fields and back through the decent. I work on reeling her back in. At the sledding hill, I caught her, and passed her again. I mentioned the course cut, just to let her know. She follows me through, and I think I gaped her at the barrier set.
Second lap, 6th place. Next person up the road is Kevin Ward. I pulled in close to him at the woods, and watched him ride the log pile. It wasn't smooth and certainly slowed him down... so I was rather happy to be carrying at that section. I continues to chase. It took me through the soccer fields and I caught him before the decent. Again I was looking for help, and I knew Chris was next up the road. So I said "Let's go catch Chris" as I came around. I hoped he would hop on, but before I hit the decent I had another large gap. So... I'm off on my own.
Last weeks race gave me confidence that I could catch Chris... so I started working on closing the gap. As I was finishing the third lap, I saw Rick starting the decent, and shouted a word of encouragement... I then checked the clock as I went through the line... 30 minutes! Already??? OK, let's catch Chris... trouble was, Chris saw me coming!
For the rest of the race, I tried to close that gap. I'd gain some, usually on the run up the sledding hill, but at the top I had to recover to turn the pedals... ugh. I had talked to Chris at the starting line, and knew he could ride the hill with his mountain bike, but because of the angle, I didn't know if he was. Behind me, I could see Tiffany and Kevin battling it out. They were pretty far back, and not gaining, so I could concentrate on catching Chris.
Four laps at 40 minutes... OK, 2 laps to go. Fifth lap at 50 minutes and the bell! The gap is NOT closing... but this is the last lap... maybe I've got enough....
I start closing on Rick at the end of the soccer fields. Chris has already caught and passed him, and he sees me coming up. I hear him cheering Chris on... then, as we head to the sledding hill, he starts hollering for me to catch up... Last time up the hill, and Chris still has that gap. I catch Rick before the last barrier set, and come around. As I head down the gravel decent, I realize my only hope of catching him this week is if he has a huge failure... mechanical or crash... up the ravine, and over the line.
Finish
After the line, Chris is there... a quick congrats and a bit of chatting. He was running from me the whole time. He said last week he wasn't sure what I could do. When I attacked he had nothing left. So this week, he didn't want me to catch him. Kevin said he put everything into trying to stay away. When I caught him, he crumbled... so he couldn't help out. He did manage to hang with Tiffany and come around her for 6th place.
So... 5th place with 6 laps in 1:00:48. I was 3 minutes off the leader, a professional duathlete... in his first off road race, on a borrowed bike with borrowed shoes. I was 2.5 minutes off the guys I've been racing. Chris managed to stay 40 seconds up...
At the end of the race, I stopped and asked Phil Hines what happened on the first lap. He told me about the crash and then made a comment about the mucky course... Belgian Concrete! I cleaned the bike Monday night... what a mess. The Israelites made bricks in Egypt with mud and straw, and the mud and grass combination I had all over the bike worked pretty much the same way.
Tips for riding wet mud:
Try to hold a straight line and power through the section. Even if you are traveling at speed, pedaling through helps maintain your momentum. Otherwise, you may stall.
There were 2 mucky sections on corners... it sucked the life out of my bike every time. I approached with the inside foot unclipped in a low gear. As the bike started to slide out, I could dab and catch it. Then attempt to pedal through the section. I pretty much let the bike choose it's own path through, and some of those were pretty bad.
Time ATAC pedals may be the best mountain bike pedals around because of the mud clearing ability... but 'cross is a different beast. The constant on and off the bike has jammed my pedals with mud in 4 of the 6 races I've done. I thought egg-beaters may have performed better, but Phil Hines says no. He was having the same types of problems clicking into his set. It has to be the mud caking the cleat... I kept trying to click in while kicking the mud off my shoes. I'd eventually get it, but only after a few tries. I'm not sure what to do about that... maybe spray some PAM on the soles of my shoes!??!
Post
Overall my goal for the race was a top 5. So I was right there. I was pretty pleased with the race... except I'd like to not loose so many places after the start. I'm not sure how to do that, besides ride harder... and risk blowing up before the end.
Rick also had a good first race. 22 place 5 laps in 1:01:07 on his Bianchi S.I.S.S. and I don't think he hurled, though I'm sure he felt it. Must be nice to have a hot tub. Turns out he rode both the log pile in the woods (I expected that) and he rode the 3 foot log between the soccer fields... I did NOT expect that. He was probably the only one riding that thing!
It turns out I'm still sitting in 5th on overall points, even with my past 2 finishes... I've just solidified my position. I'm 21 points behind 4th and 21 points clear of 6th. Solid finishes in the next 2 races will guarantee I finish here. My only hope of moving up is a no show. I think if I would have put the double chain ring on earlier in the series, I may have been in contention for 4th place. I'm one of only 4 guys that have been to all the races, and the other 3 are the top 3 places in points.
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