Cross Race #1 - Xilinx - 9/25/2010

Well, the first race is in the bag. I must I say I was a bit over-confident heading into this outing. All of the long rides and practice laps at the BOD were certainly excellent prep (and all those fell riders telling me I was fast helped a lot to boost my over-confidence as well), but in reality the decent speed I had on these outings certainly did not translate on to the course yesterday. Yes, the race was extremely humbling, and it was extremely fun; but the endurance was just not there for me yesterday for most of the race. I think there we ultimately several reasons for the missing "pop".

1. I did a hard century last weekend...this could not have helped my 40 year old legs
2. I went out too fast either for my fitness or for my lack of significant recovery with the century and the hard Weds BOD session
3. Maybe a bit too much pressure in my front tire as it slid out a lot on the harder packed stuff which contributed to my fall on the second lap
4. The fall on the first lap kind of freaked me out such that I sucked for most of that lap
5. Listed as 5, but in reality number 1 is my truly newbie status

I kind of knew I was not going to fair as well as I'd hoped when I saw the caliber of riders doing practice laps with me prior to the race. I tried to not let this distract me as I inspected what would be a really dusty course with a healthy bit of small climbs, dismounts, sand and pavement. I did get a some useful tips as I saw two guys go over the bars trying to ride through a small embankment, yes it looked perfectly rideable; but in practice it appeared that it was best to dismount and jump the thing. I did follow a more experienced rider pointing out line tips, etc. to another newbie like myself. This was useful because I picked up a bunch of ideas before the race that would serve me well.

Lineup time came and like a good rookie I showed up a bit late. This did not really matter as a bunch of the 65+ riders were called up from their results last year, and the starter randomly called up a bunch of riders based on the last number from their bibs. Unfortunately I was not one of the lucky ones... I was able to garner an outside spot that allowed me some room to pass at the start up the long slight hill on pavement. This start was excellent because it allowed everyone room to find their place before the technical stuff in the woods. At the start i quickly moved to the outside and powered by a bunch of riders. In hindsight I probably should have taken this a bit slower for the first race to allow myself the opportunity to pass later on throughout the race. As a result I was a bit high in standings; higher than my legs should have been I think. Anyway, I successfully bunny-hopped over a curb without slamming my rear rim and then entered the most technical part of the course. There was a 180 degree turn down into a very soft, off camber decent with a log crossing the path. I dismounted and hopped the log for each of my training laps which was what I did throughout the race. Of course with a downhill dismount there was a corresponding downhill mount without 90 degree turn onto a relatively tight bridge. I handled each of the dismounts and mounts ok through the race not really getting passed, but the elite guys all hopped or road over the log. Tip for next time for sure, ride the tree to save the time.

I seemed to hold things fairly well on this first lap, not getting passed I think. It was the second lap where things seemed to fall apart. After the technical section mentioned above, thee was a small pavement climb followed by a fast dirt road like section with crushed stone. The problem either for my handling or for my slightly too hard front tire was the seemingly lack of traction at speed. I slipped around a bit on the trial laps and on the first lap but on the second I may have been moving a bit faster because after making it down most of it I heard the terrible sound of my front tire losing grip and then just power sliding out from under me. I did not really fall rather than just crumple over the bike right into the tape barrier before a small bridge. The bars got entangled in the tape which created a problem when I was ready to get moving again, except the only way out of the mess was to just rip the tape off. Oh well! Once moving again I was definitely a bit freaked. This I think contributed to a bad two laps in the middle of the race...heck I even got passed by a guy on a hybrid! In fact, the hybrid guy didn't really help my motivation either...

But, for some reason on the last lap my legs really started to come back to me. I successfully bunny-hopped onto the technical section and made it through without incident. I even entered the dirt section where I fell noticeably faster than prior laps... I noticed this because I almost went sailing off the side of the side walk. Later in the lap I made it up to one lone rider who finally became my target to catch by the finish. I bridged the gap right before the last 180 degree turn onto the last 100 yards of pavement. So, with visions of Tyler Farrar in mind I gave it everything i had to pass the guy in a sprint. I still do not know if I won, but I was happy with the effort.

From Cross Race #1

Final on the day was 27th of 62 finishers. In the top half for sure, so that is something. Next goal will be a top 20 assuming a similar sized field. Hup Hup!

 

 

 

Video!

U.S. gran prix of cyclocross from Jim Fryer/BrakeThrough Media on Vimeo.

Cross Session #1

Had my first training with the team today. The session was taught by Brandon...holy cow there is a lot to learn! We started with the basics of course...like dismounting both with the foot on the outside and the inside (into a stride where the right foot goes on the inside between the left foot on the pedal. We then moved onto more advanced stuff like shouldering the bike and picking up the bike like a suitcase...all interesting and new. I have been practicing the dismount most of the summer which helped but i never really knew how to correctly pick up the bike and certainly did not know how to shoulder the bike correctly where the right hand holds the handlebars after hefting the thing with the right hand on the downtube while still moving. Honestly I felt confident with most of the dismount stuff but really struggled with the shouldering and the proper method to get the bike off the shoulder and on the ground without dropping a chain. Man, this is so different than anything I have ever done... My HR was pegged doing these drills up and down a soccer field. Unbelievable. We also did mounts of course which were hard and then culminated with starts and then work with the cross props barriers. I am definitely glad to have had a some instruction before just jumping in without knowing anything. Can't wait to try this in a race without more practice of course. There is another drill session next week (north boulder about 20 minutes from the house by car and 40 by bike) and then after that there is a fast group that practices by the house on the local cross course (where i did my short track race this spring). So, one more week of drill and then fast race laps trying not to get lapped! Sounds like a plan.