Niv hasn't been to a cyclocross race yet. Poor kid. I got to do two this week. The first was in Cheshire, CT just up the road (I got to ride to the race) and the second was in Easthampton, MA (not so rideable). My friend Danny came along to check out the scene and see if he could get into racing. I think we can add one more person hooked on cyclocross. It was cool to see him on different parts of the courses cheering me on. At Cheshire he even had company because Matt from The Devil's Gear, my cyclocross team sponsor came out for race and moral support with a whole crew. Thanks to everyone that braved the weather.
Cheshire's course was very much like a mountain bike course for the first half. It had some serious elevation changes on singletrack. The second half was on grass in fields with a sand pit and barriers thrown in, much more traditional for the activity. The bottom line is that I was too aggressive on technical sections of the course. I now know that you can't gain that much time by being aggressive but can lose a ton if you botch the section. Which I did a few times.
Once I went into a hill way overgeared and fell over. I took a corner way too fast; it was a transition from grass to paverment with a little gravel thrown in. That one mistake took me out of the top ten. I finished 11th. I dismounted too close to the barriers and couldn't get over smoothly enough and hit my front wheel. It knocked my wheel in the dropout so I had to stop and straighten it. And I dropped my chain because I was too lazy to carry my bike. Add all that up and poof, there I go down the standings.
That said, it can't be too bad if I did all that and didn't finish dead last. There are good bits too. I ran up the really, really long run up pretty well, although I started cramping at the end of the race. Too much running I guess. I threw down on the less technical sections and tried to make up time. All in all, it was a good learning experience. And the fans on the really, really long run up were really, really amazing. They had all sorts of synchronized cheering to add to the experience. I'll embed some videos if they appear on the interwebs.
Easthampton was a good opportunity to put the learning experience into practice. The course was really fast. It was mostly flat and had a bunch of pavement so I could thrown down my wattage monster in a fit of rage. I had to contain that rage a bit because sprinting on squishy cyclocross tires on pavement feels funny. But I mostly raged.
There were a bunch of tricky technical sections. Now that I have an opportunity to reflect on the race, I think the turning point may have been early. I got a decent start, I didn't get into my pedal so quickly and didn't put down as much gas as I clearly should have. I was probably 20th going onto the trail. At the second section that was pavement to trail a couple of guys tangled and slammed into a park bench. At that point I was still in contact with lead group but when the guys tumbled violently I had to dismount and jump over them. Yes, I jumped over bodies and bikes. That diconnected me from the lead group along with everyone else because the front was going 20mph and and I certainly can't run that fast.
I then chased and played the conservative rider card so I wouldn't fall down again. In the sand pit I did get slowed up and had to dismount. I had no idea somebody was really close behind and as I dismounted I put my foot in his face. First, I didn't mean it, second, why was he so close in the sand pit when I was clearly getting caught up? I got 17th in the end. That's not too bad. It was a much bigger field than the day before. I'm happy with it for now.
My legs started to falter at the end. I was getting tired. Two races took a lot out of me I guess. So did the cold. So did the wind at Cheshire which made the cold nearly unbearable. There were points that I couldn't shift quite right because my fingers were so cold. That doesn't even happen in road racing at the end of winter so often.
Two more weeks of cyclocross until the season wraps up for me and it's all training for the road, all the time. I'm pretty sure I'll miss it until next fall.
Cheshire's course was very much like a mountain bike course for the first half. It had some serious elevation changes on singletrack. The second half was on grass in fields with a sand pit and barriers thrown in, much more traditional for the activity. The bottom line is that I was too aggressive on technical sections of the course. I now know that you can't gain that much time by being aggressive but can lose a ton if you botch the section. Which I did a few times.
Once I went into a hill way overgeared and fell over. I took a corner way too fast; it was a transition from grass to paverment with a little gravel thrown in. That one mistake took me out of the top ten. I finished 11th. I dismounted too close to the barriers and couldn't get over smoothly enough and hit my front wheel. It knocked my wheel in the dropout so I had to stop and straighten it. And I dropped my chain because I was too lazy to carry my bike. Add all that up and poof, there I go down the standings.
That said, it can't be too bad if I did all that and didn't finish dead last. There are good bits too. I ran up the really, really long run up pretty well, although I started cramping at the end of the race. Too much running I guess. I threw down on the less technical sections and tried to make up time. All in all, it was a good learning experience. And the fans on the really, really long run up were really, really amazing. They had all sorts of synchronized cheering to add to the experience. I'll embed some videos if they appear on the interwebs.
Easthampton was a good opportunity to put the learning experience into practice. The course was really fast. It was mostly flat and had a bunch of pavement so I could thrown down my wattage monster in a fit of rage. I had to contain that rage a bit because sprinting on squishy cyclocross tires on pavement feels funny. But I mostly raged.
There were a bunch of tricky technical sections. Now that I have an opportunity to reflect on the race, I think the turning point may have been early. I got a decent start, I didn't get into my pedal so quickly and didn't put down as much gas as I clearly should have. I was probably 20th going onto the trail. At the second section that was pavement to trail a couple of guys tangled and slammed into a park bench. At that point I was still in contact with lead group but when the guys tumbled violently I had to dismount and jump over them. Yes, I jumped over bodies and bikes. That diconnected me from the lead group along with everyone else because the front was going 20mph and and I certainly can't run that fast.
I then chased and played the conservative rider card so I wouldn't fall down again. In the sand pit I did get slowed up and had to dismount. I had no idea somebody was really close behind and as I dismounted I put my foot in his face. First, I didn't mean it, second, why was he so close in the sand pit when I was clearly getting caught up? I got 17th in the end. That's not too bad. It was a much bigger field than the day before. I'm happy with it for now.
My legs started to falter at the end. I was getting tired. Two races took a lot out of me I guess. So did the cold. So did the wind at Cheshire which made the cold nearly unbearable. There were points that I couldn't shift quite right because my fingers were so cold. That doesn't even happen in road racing at the end of winter so often.
Two more weeks of cyclocross until the season wraps up for me and it's all training for the road, all the time. I'm pretty sure I'll miss it until next fall.
I'm the second rider in the pavilion (we think). Danny took these with his camera phone, hence the quality.
Bring the heat, or maybe the cold.
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1 comment:
sounds like quite an experience...glad you are pleased with your finishes and all you learned. that'll help you kick more butt next time, right?!
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