[crossthreaded]

Wanted race reports (or whatever) from BA's last race of the season:

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[4130gibson@sbcg]

:beer:Hi Crossthreaded!
Well, since you asked... the conditions were perfect for epic cx; rain, freezing rain, mud, freezing mud, and some slick hardpacked snow, which was apparently packed down by a tractor, or farm vehicle so there were frozen ruts to grab your wheels, thus removing all control while providing a fast surface to pedal on.
I raced the B Master div., and lined up in the rear, as I knew my fitness has dropped off as the days got shorter and colder... the start area was on the hardpack, which as I mentioned was slick. The B's got going about 30 meters to a left followed by a right 90 degree turn, which succeeded in taking down about a quarter of the field...I navigated through a small opening through the fallen, and noticed a huge gap to the front group of riders, but the hardpack allowed you to pick up speed quickly, and at the end of the first long straight I made contact with the front group, tried to find a rhythm and recover a bit as we doubled back on some grass and through the barriers. So far so good, I'm somewhere in the top 8 -10 I reckoned just gotta ride clean, and try to hold my position - Doh! front tire washed out in the singlerack wooded section, people are trying to pass, but there's no room, I run ( something my body really hates) and go anaerobic just as we hit the MUD!:eek: My buddy Todd rolls up to me, apparently not in too much distress, I try not to show I am suffering a bit, and try to follow his wheel as the muddy track climbs a slight incline on the back 40, but he gets away, as does another and another fresher rider!:mad:
Out of the mud and through a short single track I gain back some ground and we approach the pavement section, I put the Redline in the big ring and pass somebody, there are 3 of us now on the road, accellerating (sort of:rolleyes:) and then we hit the farm driveway and the hardpack and through a couple zigs/zags approaching the start line. I passed my companions here by not braking and carrying more speed onto the icy snow. this seemed to be my best chance to make up time on the competition, so I stood up and hammered most of the long straight, caught another rider there, and near the end of the field my front tire went into a frozen rut... I avoided falling by putting my foot down and slowed down until I could regain my balance. Crap! lost my advantage and was seriously out of air now! My former companions passed me, plus a few MORE RIDERS:rolleyes: Now my body and I are seriously at odds, as I want to push harder, and my stomach tries to send breakfast back...I slow down and walk throught the barriers this time. It was right about here that the first female rider caught me, and once out of the singletrack she powered away from me in the muddy "back 40" I recoverd a bit by the time I got near the pavement, but it started raining/sleeting harder, and I decided to pace myself, as I was unsure how many laps were left. Lap 3 was just a slower, more painful version of #2, more riders passing me, and on the pavement another guy passes, I shadow him, but don't try to contest it, thinking "better save something for the last trip through the back 40... so passing the finish line I hear people say "that's it" and I'm thinking aw, shucks I didn't have to give up so easily and at the same time Whew, glad that's over!
Final standing 8th out of 10 in B masters... Humiliation is a great motivator ;see you next season!;)
PS My friend Todd Palmer finished 2nd and thought he was maybe in like 4th or 5th, he too thinks he might have done better if he knew he was racing for the win!
Let's keep in touch and maybe do a couple rides this summer, maybe a century or something we can all get to?

[crossthreaded]

Well, as 4130 described, the course was challenging. I was determined not to get balked at the start like last race at the farm. So I made a concerted effort from the front row and was surprised no one went by even at the 90 degree right at the end of the crazy straight. Something had to be wrong, I shouldn’t be leading!:eek: As I got to the off camber multi-rutted section I got “steered” into the field and went down trying to control it. The new leaders went by soon after, it was fun and weird being off the front for that little bit, but the natural order of things took over. My chain dropped in the fall.:mad: My chain must be too long as I have a double chainring guard!:mad: Popped it back on and caught up to the three C leaders in the woods who were being balked by the B tail enders. We worked our way through the woods and the long mud straight. Then I got to the pavement, shifted and ran out of gears (a single chainring is a bad idea for this race when they use the road section):( and got passed by my fellow C racer, Dale. I re-passed on the farm driveway transition back to snow, slush and mud. **This was to be the scene of some last lap exciting and decisive dicing in the A Open and A Masters races.:D:D** One more lap. I held onto fifth place until I hit an icy patch just before the rutted off camber section, I don’t know what I was thinking (I wasn‘t…!:rolleyes:) ’cos I knew it was there. I almost saved it, but still went down pretty hard on my right forearm (still have the road… er, ice-rash) and skated along the ice for about ten feet.:eek: It must have looked pretty funny to Dale and the other C racer on a mtb as they went passed.:o I remounted and caught the mtb in the short section before the road, but the single chainring did me in and he took off and moved up another position. Basically I made too many mistakes, others didn’t and that was the difference in placing outside the top five (seventh). This was still enough to get a good result for the overall series. Team lake Effect and Bike Authority put on some great cyclocross races. It would be fantastic for them to be able to put on the State CX Championship race. I think it is already spoken for though,:mad: too bad. Hey 4130 good fortune on your new venture, I’ll have to check it out when I’m out that way.

[drumbum]

Sorry I didn't see this thread sooner!

I woke up early Sunday morning to the sheen of ice EVERYWHERE. Got packed and ready to leave when I found out that my family and friends bailed on me...guess I had to drive and race alone! Got to the race at 11, worried briefly about getting my minivan stuck in the snowy grass, then bundled up. I brought along a box of 40 copies of CX Magazine (http://www.cxmagazine.com) to share with the racers.

Oddly enough I don't remember all that much from the race itself. Had a really good start and chased down an mtb....came around the final corner at the end and saw the 1st place guy on an mtb crossing the finish line. Had a great race with no regrets and am definitely ready for some killer B racing next year.

Word on the street was that an informal CX race series is being planned for the area in early Spring. Stay tuned!