November 5, 2005
Bay Village
Cyclocross season enters full swing for the Cleveland area with the Bike Authority/October Hill-Lake Effect Cyclocross series. This year it will be 7 races in 5 weeks with a big Thanksgiving 'cross weekend consisting of 3 races in 3 days. The first race of the series was held on the south side of Cahoon Park in Bay Village. I've been successful at this course winning the B race here last year, so I'm hoping for good things today.
Bay Village
Cyclocross season enters full swing for the Cleveland area with the Bike Authority/October Hill-Lake Effect Cyclocross series. This year it will be 7 races in 5 weeks with a big Thanksgiving 'cross weekend consisting of 3 races in 3 days. The first race of the series was held on the south side of Cahoon Park in Bay Village. I've been successful at this course winning the B race here last year, so I'm hoping for good things today.
Big changes for me this year. Last year I picked up my first win in the B race, I also won the points series with consistent racing in the top 5. I was also jumping into the A race immediately following the B's for training. I'd get shelled in the A's, but that wasn't why I was doing it. This year, I've made a commitment to racing the A races only, just to see where I stack up against the best crossers in Cleveland.
It turns out that the fields have pretty large ability spread. The C race is supposed to be for beginner racers, the B race is intermediate, for cat 4/5 roadies and sport mountain bikers and the A race is a 1/2/3/Expert race. The race category is self selected though, so there are often experts and cat 3's in the B field... so the back of the fields can easily be 1 or 2 laps down on the winner. But you can't sandbag an A race. I know exactly who I'll be racing against. The cool thing about 'cross (and mountain biking as well) is even if you're not racing at the front of the field, you are racing against similar abilities. The races usually spread out pretty quickly after the start, and you will be racing against guys close to you. Can I hold the guy behind me off? Can I bring the guy in front back? So I know that my podium places will be pretty non-existant, but I'll still be racing. I don't do this for the winnings anyway, I ride and race to get that competitive fix.
So my goals for this year are pretty simple. I want to see where I am in the A field, and can I move my position up. Each race I have one main goal... can I finish on the lead lap? I'm running from Paul Martin every week. At the SnakeBite Race, he lapped me twice (as did the top 8 riders) though it was my second race, and I was not at my physical best that day. My other goal is top 10... since these races are usually lightly attended with about 20 riders being typical, midpack would be really nice.
The Course
Big changes to the course this time. We actually crossed parking roads in three locations. The big features were the sledding hill run up, always a fun section, and a bunch of grass/pavement transistions. Cross is a race of transitions, and we had them today. I think we went from grass to pavement 10 times with two small sections of gravel. All these transitions took their toll on the B field with at least 5 flats out of the field of 41 racers.It turns out there is nothing really hard about this course beside the pavement transitions. We've got the one run up, and one set of barriers. There is one sharp little off camber rise, and everything else is flat. one turn is a bit chewed up, and may require hanging a leg out, but the course looks to be mostly power riding. My teammate, Brett even thought he'd be in the big ring for most of his race.
The other big feature is it's a long course. At about 2.1 miles it's near the standard length limit for a cross race. The long course is good for me, as it gives me more time to hold off getting lapped. The Chagrin River course was about as short as they get, and there were quite a few of us lapped twice.
Pre-race
Well the team did well in the B field. 41 racers, Brett came in third, and Pat came in 11th. I did a couple of warmup laps during the B race, and followed Pat around for one. Oh, what fun to watch someone suffer like that.
I'm comming off less than optimal preparation. Three weeks ago, I had been doing lots of cross practice, and lots of intervals. Then I got sick, and crashed a few times. The last one really hurt me, so I haven't been doing any real intensity since the last race I did. I really have no idea how I'll be going today. I also forgot my HRM chest strap, so I won't have a record of my efforts. First A only race, and I've got enough excuses to make me optimistic for the future.
The Race
Being an effective A newbie, I figured there was no sense in lining up at the front. Turns out we lined up with just about everyone up front though, so I was on the front line. Pretty impressive field of 18. I recognized way to many guys that would be in front of me, but I knew who I'd be racing against. Shawn Adams talked Linda, the official, into shortening the race, so we'd only race for about an hour, and we were off!
The first obstacle was really a 180 turn about 100 meters from the start, then another about 200 meters later. I ended up with a good start and was 5th at the first turn without too much effort. I was really surprised to be up there. By the second turn I was about 10th... and still feeling pretty well sitting on Rudy Sroka's wheel. Then more guys were going by me. I must of been about 16th as we got to the hill, and I was struck with how many guys were at the top and heading back down before I was even at the bottom. Not where I'm used to being. The remainder of the lap, I spent picking off a few guys and moving into a group with John Reade and Jeff Cartledge from Honey-Stinger.
Being in a new race group, I've got to totally change my race strategy. I'm used to racing aggresively from the start. Sprint to the first obstical, see who's made it with me, then sit in with them until I see an opening to push it more... or fall off as happened at the Chagrin River race. Now I've got to be careful not to completely blow up and start moving backwards, but still be agressive enough to get the best result possible. So, I decided to sit in this group and see what happens. I probably stayed in for a lap while John pulled, then I came around and started pushing it a bit. John fell back to the next group, while Jeff hung onto my wheel.
Up ahead I could see Chris Aron from OctoberHill/Lake Effect, and Ryan Williams from Spin was ahead of him. We settle into this for a lap or so, then Jeff started to fall off my wheel. Now we're in the "status quo" portion. I've got the gap to Chris pegged, and Jeff is pretty much staying where he is. I can see a group of four a ways further back, and Ryan further up ahead.
We're pretty constant for about 3 laps. Every time up the hill, Chris is just starting the descent. I think I'll try to bring him back with 2 to go... I'm not sure how this happened but on the fifth time up the hill, Chris just disappeared. I never saw the gap open, but I came off the bridge leading to the hill, and he wasn't there... I had a little trouble on the hill toward the second barrier set, so Jeff closed in a bit, but Chris was seriously out of site. As I came around the parking lot, I asked the marshal where he was, and was told he;s way ahead of me! Wow. When I next saw him, he was with Ryan.
This did my race no good at all. Without that gap to match, I was having trouble maintaining my effort, so Jeff started to peg me back. Sixth time to the hill, he almost had me, but I opened the gap a bit on the run up to hold him off and was further up into the barriers. So I wasn't too worried about loosing a spot. I could then see that Chris had left Ryan, and I was bringing Ryan back. This helped me a lot. Now my goal was to catch Ryan before the finish.
I was not sure when I'd hear the bell (as I was still pretty unsure of how long the race would really go), so I figured as soon as I could hear the bell, I would push it hard for the last lap and a half or so. Coming out onto the off camber incline, I could hear the bell so I started pushing the pace a bit more. Jeff was olding his gap constant and Ryan was slowly coming back. The gap to Chris was still getting larger though.
When I was about a half mile from the finish, I saw Paul Martin behind Jeff. Woah!!!! I cannot let him catch me before I get to the finish line! I need to finish on the same lap as he is.... then if he catches Jeff, I don't have to worry about him, but I don't want my race to end before I'm on the bell lap. I pretty much bury it... racing to the line against Paul. I was almost sure he wasn't going to catch me, but I need to be sure. I make it through the line, and take a bit of a recovery.... that was work.
Coming out onto the sledding hill, Ryan is at the top. Ryan and I have gone at it before, so we both knew that I was going to turn myself inside out to catch him... and he was going to do all to prevent it. Unfortunately for him, this was a long course... and he was blown. I pegged him back at about the halfway point, and attacked him hard with about half a mile to go. He had nothing left, so I finished with about 30 seconds. About a minute behind Chris for 12th.
Post
7 laps in 1:11, 16.7 miles, average speed was 13.9, max speed of 27.4. 12th place out of 18. Not exactly where I wanted to be, but not bad for a first go at the A race. Given the last three weeks of training, I figure I have a good chance of improving my fitness and hope the percentages will improve over the series. We'll see how it goes.
This was the first cross course that I consistantly was using the big ring. It may be related to teh 38/48 rings I have, so I'm now thinking about going back to the single ring, or maybe changing my rings to a 42/48. I had removed the single ring two years ago, because I was bogging down on hills I knew I could climb better then guys ahead of me. Two years of training, and I'm hoping it will make me faster now. We'll also see if the equipment change will help.
The "controversy"
Interesting detail: The B race and the A race both did 7 laps. How can this be when the A race is supposed to be 60+1? Well, we had two things reduce our lap.
First, they moved the finish line about a half lap closer to the start. So the B race actually did 6.5 laps and the A race did 7.
Second, they shorted the A race. Paul Martin finished in just over an hour. I think the winner of the B field finished in 65 minutes. That's what happens when the leader goes through the line at 44.5 minutes, and you have close to 10 minute long laps.
Next up...
Next week, we go to the Boughton Farm. A fun flatter course at a working farm... stay away from the produce!
It turns out that the fields have pretty large ability spread. The C race is supposed to be for beginner racers, the B race is intermediate, for cat 4/5 roadies and sport mountain bikers and the A race is a 1/2/3/Expert race. The race category is self selected though, so there are often experts and cat 3's in the B field... so the back of the fields can easily be 1 or 2 laps down on the winner. But you can't sandbag an A race. I know exactly who I'll be racing against. The cool thing about 'cross (and mountain biking as well) is even if you're not racing at the front of the field, you are racing against similar abilities. The races usually spread out pretty quickly after the start, and you will be racing against guys close to you. Can I hold the guy behind me off? Can I bring the guy in front back? So I know that my podium places will be pretty non-existant, but I'll still be racing. I don't do this for the winnings anyway, I ride and race to get that competitive fix.
So my goals for this year are pretty simple. I want to see where I am in the A field, and can I move my position up. Each race I have one main goal... can I finish on the lead lap? I'm running from Paul Martin every week. At the SnakeBite Race, he lapped me twice (as did the top 8 riders) though it was my second race, and I was not at my physical best that day. My other goal is top 10... since these races are usually lightly attended with about 20 riders being typical, midpack would be really nice.
The Course
Big changes to the course this time. We actually crossed parking roads in three locations. The big features were the sledding hill run up, always a fun section, and a bunch of grass/pavement transistions. Cross is a race of transitions, and we had them today. I think we went from grass to pavement 10 times with two small sections of gravel. All these transitions took their toll on the B field with at least 5 flats out of the field of 41 racers.It turns out there is nothing really hard about this course beside the pavement transitions. We've got the one run up, and one set of barriers. There is one sharp little off camber rise, and everything else is flat. one turn is a bit chewed up, and may require hanging a leg out, but the course looks to be mostly power riding. My teammate, Brett even thought he'd be in the big ring for most of his race.
The other big feature is it's a long course. At about 2.1 miles it's near the standard length limit for a cross race. The long course is good for me, as it gives me more time to hold off getting lapped. The Chagrin River course was about as short as they get, and there were quite a few of us lapped twice.
Pre-race
Well the team did well in the B field. 41 racers, Brett came in third, and Pat came in 11th. I did a couple of warmup laps during the B race, and followed Pat around for one. Oh, what fun to watch someone suffer like that.
I'm comming off less than optimal preparation. Three weeks ago, I had been doing lots of cross practice, and lots of intervals. Then I got sick, and crashed a few times. The last one really hurt me, so I haven't been doing any real intensity since the last race I did. I really have no idea how I'll be going today. I also forgot my HRM chest strap, so I won't have a record of my efforts. First A only race, and I've got enough excuses to make me optimistic for the future.
The Race
Being an effective A newbie, I figured there was no sense in lining up at the front. Turns out we lined up with just about everyone up front though, so I was on the front line. Pretty impressive field of 18. I recognized way to many guys that would be in front of me, but I knew who I'd be racing against. Shawn Adams talked Linda, the official, into shortening the race, so we'd only race for about an hour, and we were off!
The first obstacle was really a 180 turn about 100 meters from the start, then another about 200 meters later. I ended up with a good start and was 5th at the first turn without too much effort. I was really surprised to be up there. By the second turn I was about 10th... and still feeling pretty well sitting on Rudy Sroka's wheel. Then more guys were going by me. I must of been about 16th as we got to the hill, and I was struck with how many guys were at the top and heading back down before I was even at the bottom. Not where I'm used to being. The remainder of the lap, I spent picking off a few guys and moving into a group with John Reade and Jeff Cartledge from Honey-Stinger.
Being in a new race group, I've got to totally change my race strategy. I'm used to racing aggresively from the start. Sprint to the first obstical, see who's made it with me, then sit in with them until I see an opening to push it more... or fall off as happened at the Chagrin River race. Now I've got to be careful not to completely blow up and start moving backwards, but still be agressive enough to get the best result possible. So, I decided to sit in this group and see what happens. I probably stayed in for a lap while John pulled, then I came around and started pushing it a bit. John fell back to the next group, while Jeff hung onto my wheel.
Up ahead I could see Chris Aron from OctoberHill/Lake Effect, and Ryan Williams from Spin was ahead of him. We settle into this for a lap or so, then Jeff started to fall off my wheel. Now we're in the "status quo" portion. I've got the gap to Chris pegged, and Jeff is pretty much staying where he is. I can see a group of four a ways further back, and Ryan further up ahead.
We're pretty constant for about 3 laps. Every time up the hill, Chris is just starting the descent. I think I'll try to bring him back with 2 to go... I'm not sure how this happened but on the fifth time up the hill, Chris just disappeared. I never saw the gap open, but I came off the bridge leading to the hill, and he wasn't there... I had a little trouble on the hill toward the second barrier set, so Jeff closed in a bit, but Chris was seriously out of site. As I came around the parking lot, I asked the marshal where he was, and was told he;s way ahead of me! Wow. When I next saw him, he was with Ryan.
This did my race no good at all. Without that gap to match, I was having trouble maintaining my effort, so Jeff started to peg me back. Sixth time to the hill, he almost had me, but I opened the gap a bit on the run up to hold him off and was further up into the barriers. So I wasn't too worried about loosing a spot. I could then see that Chris had left Ryan, and I was bringing Ryan back. This helped me a lot. Now my goal was to catch Ryan before the finish.
I was not sure when I'd hear the bell (as I was still pretty unsure of how long the race would really go), so I figured as soon as I could hear the bell, I would push it hard for the last lap and a half or so. Coming out onto the off camber incline, I could hear the bell so I started pushing the pace a bit more. Jeff was olding his gap constant and Ryan was slowly coming back. The gap to Chris was still getting larger though.
When I was about a half mile from the finish, I saw Paul Martin behind Jeff. Woah!!!! I cannot let him catch me before I get to the finish line! I need to finish on the same lap as he is.... then if he catches Jeff, I don't have to worry about him, but I don't want my race to end before I'm on the bell lap. I pretty much bury it... racing to the line against Paul. I was almost sure he wasn't going to catch me, but I need to be sure. I make it through the line, and take a bit of a recovery.... that was work.
Coming out onto the sledding hill, Ryan is at the top. Ryan and I have gone at it before, so we both knew that I was going to turn myself inside out to catch him... and he was going to do all to prevent it. Unfortunately for him, this was a long course... and he was blown. I pegged him back at about the halfway point, and attacked him hard with about half a mile to go. He had nothing left, so I finished with about 30 seconds. About a minute behind Chris for 12th.
Post
7 laps in 1:11, 16.7 miles, average speed was 13.9, max speed of 27.4. 12th place out of 18. Not exactly where I wanted to be, but not bad for a first go at the A race. Given the last three weeks of training, I figure I have a good chance of improving my fitness and hope the percentages will improve over the series. We'll see how it goes.
This was the first cross course that I consistantly was using the big ring. It may be related to teh 38/48 rings I have, so I'm now thinking about going back to the single ring, or maybe changing my rings to a 42/48. I had removed the single ring two years ago, because I was bogging down on hills I knew I could climb better then guys ahead of me. Two years of training, and I'm hoping it will make me faster now. We'll also see if the equipment change will help.
The "controversy"
Interesting detail: The B race and the A race both did 7 laps. How can this be when the A race is supposed to be 60+1? Well, we had two things reduce our lap.
First, they moved the finish line about a half lap closer to the start. So the B race actually did 6.5 laps and the A race did 7.
Second, they shorted the A race. Paul Martin finished in just over an hour. I think the winner of the B field finished in 65 minutes. That's what happens when the leader goes through the line at 44.5 minutes, and you have close to 10 minute long laps.
Next up...
Next week, we go to the Boughton Farm. A fun flatter course at a working farm... stay away from the produce!
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