It had been a few weeks since the last race and I was quite ready to get back on a cross course. Cheshire was about as home field as it's been this season. Bonus #2, our race was at noon instead of 9am. I met Taylor there and we got a course pre-ride in followed by warm up while the women's field was racing, Taylor rolling circles in the grass, I on the trainer.
At start time I rolled up to find that plenty of guys had already gathered, but somehow I managed to get myself a front row starting position. I've learned that a front row start is critical, because getting caught in traffic costs critical time. At the whistle I jumped into a sprint, then we hit a complete u-turn, it was a little dicey, but I jumped into another sprint coming out of it. So far so good, I had good position. A short bit later we hit a short right into another left u-turn. I got one guy on the inside and accelerated hard out of the turn. Now the course opened up slightly and we started to drop into line, cutting through a small ravine. Then I heard some cheers from atop the bank on my left. Lee, Rob, and Omar had come to cheer Taylor and I on. At the end of the ravine was yet another u-turn and we cut back through. More cheers!
Into the first run up. I was definitely faster than a few guys running up the hill but everyone was still close enough together I couldn't get around all the swinging bikes. Unfortunate, because I was also held up a little by these guys on the following single track, but as soon as the course opened for a bit I jumped to pass. Finally, room to move a little, and we were diving back into another little bit of single track which I could take at pace I liked.
Pain! The worst run up I've been on all year, run up #2 of this course. The organizers had strewn a log across the bottom of this hill, to which only a few guys were able to get over while still on their bikes. The rest of us dismounted, and ran up this torturous hill. (There was actually a prize for anyone that could ride the hill at least twice.) Then I heard more cheers, Jason and Lauren were there too. Oh joy, they get to watch me run up the hill in pain. Actually it was more like a slow shuffle, not a run.
So now that I was fully beyond the red zone it was off to the more open sections of the lap. Of course we hurdled a set of barriers and rode through some sand, then hit some pretty sketchy off camber corners. The last couple hundred yards were flat through a field Allowing for some steady pedaling and recovery. At the end of the first lap, I counted myself to be in about 6th position. I was pretty ecstatic about this, it was my best position all year!
Over the next few laps I passed a few guys and a few guys passed me, sometimes trading positions depending upon what section of course we were on. One thing was consistent, the pain of run up #2. Every lap I was pushed farther into the red zone, and recovered less. At one point I think I had drool hanging from my mouth because I was trying so hard to suck in what ever oxygen I could that closing my mouth or swallowing was not on my list of functional abilities. Basically, I think I found a new section of my lungs that had never been used before.
Going into the 4th and final lap, I noticed that there was a large gap behind me until the next group of guys. Now I really shouldn't have looked back, because as I was told once, the race is in front of me. So knowing I had a little space, I eased off just a little because I knew I had space. Bad idea, with about a third of a lap to go I realized they'd made up some ground on me. Now I struggled to get whatever I could out of my legs so that the pursuing guys couldn't make up anymore ground. Coming into the final straight I knew I had them, but I stood up and sprinted just to put the nail in it.
All in all, definitely my best cross race thus far. The biggest difference from the other races, a great start and not contending with traffic. I'm not sure how Taylor and I finished as of yet, I didn't check any results at the race. I'll post an update when I find them online. For now, the pictures Lee took while I was racing and a few I took of the race following us can be found here.
You can find some videos at the following Youtube links and check out the heckling from Santa Cross below.
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4
Video 5
Video 6
Don't forget your speakers
At start time I rolled up to find that plenty of guys had already gathered, but somehow I managed to get myself a front row starting position. I've learned that a front row start is critical, because getting caught in traffic costs critical time. At the whistle I jumped into a sprint, then we hit a complete u-turn, it was a little dicey, but I jumped into another sprint coming out of it. So far so good, I had good position. A short bit later we hit a short right into another left u-turn. I got one guy on the inside and accelerated hard out of the turn. Now the course opened up slightly and we started to drop into line, cutting through a small ravine. Then I heard some cheers from atop the bank on my left. Lee, Rob, and Omar had come to cheer Taylor and I on. At the end of the ravine was yet another u-turn and we cut back through. More cheers!
Into the first run up. I was definitely faster than a few guys running up the hill but everyone was still close enough together I couldn't get around all the swinging bikes. Unfortunate, because I was also held up a little by these guys on the following single track, but as soon as the course opened for a bit I jumped to pass. Finally, room to move a little, and we were diving back into another little bit of single track which I could take at pace I liked.
Pain! The worst run up I've been on all year, run up #2 of this course. The organizers had strewn a log across the bottom of this hill, to which only a few guys were able to get over while still on their bikes. The rest of us dismounted, and ran up this torturous hill. (There was actually a prize for anyone that could ride the hill at least twice.) Then I heard more cheers, Jason and Lauren were there too. Oh joy, they get to watch me run up the hill in pain. Actually it was more like a slow shuffle, not a run.
So now that I was fully beyond the red zone it was off to the more open sections of the lap. Of course we hurdled a set of barriers and rode through some sand, then hit some pretty sketchy off camber corners. The last couple hundred yards were flat through a field Allowing for some steady pedaling and recovery. At the end of the first lap, I counted myself to be in about 6th position. I was pretty ecstatic about this, it was my best position all year!
Over the next few laps I passed a few guys and a few guys passed me, sometimes trading positions depending upon what section of course we were on. One thing was consistent, the pain of run up #2. Every lap I was pushed farther into the red zone, and recovered less. At one point I think I had drool hanging from my mouth because I was trying so hard to suck in what ever oxygen I could that closing my mouth or swallowing was not on my list of functional abilities. Basically, I think I found a new section of my lungs that had never been used before.
Going into the 4th and final lap, I noticed that there was a large gap behind me until the next group of guys. Now I really shouldn't have looked back, because as I was told once, the race is in front of me. So knowing I had a little space, I eased off just a little because I knew I had space. Bad idea, with about a third of a lap to go I realized they'd made up some ground on me. Now I struggled to get whatever I could out of my legs so that the pursuing guys couldn't make up anymore ground. Coming into the final straight I knew I had them, but I stood up and sprinted just to put the nail in it.
All in all, definitely my best cross race thus far. The biggest difference from the other races, a great start and not contending with traffic. I'm not sure how Taylor and I finished as of yet, I didn't check any results at the race. I'll post an update when I find them online. For now, the pictures Lee took while I was racing and a few I took of the race following us can be found here.
You can find some videos at the following Youtube links and check out the heckling from Santa Cross below.
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4
Video 5
Video 6
Don't forget your speakers
1 comment:
Hey Scott, nice job on the blog. Sounds like you had fun at the race. I can't access youtube at work so I'll have to check out the videos later on.
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