mikerhymeswith

from a CX4 POV:

#6 Southern Pines; sand in the corners, sand on down hills, rutted sand around the pond; steep sand run up; some grass and pavement on which to a) recover and loose positions, or b) attack. Started in the top 10 and faded to 17th with my highest ever recorded HR over a 30m period. I was completely exhausted going into the barriers on the last lap and wobbled into a post. Lost two positions in the last lap. I suspect that wearing an HRM and peeking at it hurt rather than helped me. I've sworn off performance measuring computers in races now. I'm working on a way to collect data and not look at it in-race

#7 Hendersonville; this was a UCI event; noticeable difference from other races was start box was completely called up and lapped riders were pulled at the judges discretion but I never saw it happen; longest course yet at about 9-10 minutes per lap; slick muddy corners, barriers, a stepped run up; woods section with a tight muddy downhill right-left entrance and a 180 into a longish moderate climb to the exit; the lap finish was a muddy steep side-hill run into a right turn uphill that became slicker with each lap and each race; this put you onto a very short paved run into a very steep and muddy hill that was a ride for some and runup for others; to place highly you had to ride this section well; I started in top 16 and ended 24th most likely because I fell in the first lap in the muddy turn just before the long paved section leading to the pits on the way to the woods; not only did i fall but the guy behind me fell too and our bikes hooked; then my chain dropped; i had to work hard to get back to 24th

#8 Hendersonville; same course and same direction except it was colder, overcast and starting to rain; I changed to 35 knobby tires; course was slicker than the day before; I'm called to start in the front 24; the start routine is cool; they give you a 30 sec and 15 sec warning and say whistle can blow anytime after the 15 sec warning; we go off hard but i'm hanging back because i don't want to go into slick corner too hot; three corners later i'm still riding way too conservatively and i'm getting passed; i start to put in more effort and regain some positions; i'm starting to be aware about metering out my reserves; i'm feeling better about handling mud and my technique seems to be working; i pick off a few more in good passing sections; my barriers are improving - dismounts and running the barriers feel better; remounts are still crappy and have a double skip on the left foot; at least i didn't get passed on the barriers and runups this weekend; saw a guy loose a chain and throw his bike; felt bad for him at the same time I was thinking that I'd just gained a position; saw two guys go down in the same place I went down the day before - gained two more positions; I attacked a guy on the grass straight going into the woods but then he counter attacked on the hill in the woods - well done - I burned my match in wrong place at the wrong time; we have juniors on the course with us and we are lapping them and they are tired and wobbly; we do our best to avoid them but they are all over the place; on the last lap I'm working hard to maintain a gap against my pursuers; i head into the side-hill, hill, steeeeeeep hill finale; i turn into the first hill and junior falls right in front of me; i had trouble unclipping and dismounting on the drive side of the bike; i scramble to the paved section and get half a run into the steep hill and can't make it; i dismount and dig hard; i got passed by a guy that got a good run; i try to mount a chase but a i'm totaled gassed and foaming at the mouth; i look behind and see that i have no chasers so i back off and roll in easy to 19th

watching the mens and womens elite races was as enlightening as it was fun

one thing i've learned is that i can't keep up with the top 10 in the first lap; i can keep up with the holeshot but I lack the handling skills to maintain control after that; i also don't have the fitness this year to keep up the pace in the all-important first lap of CX racing; maybe next year i'll find that I can hang in the first lap and then the second lap will become the new all-important lap; doesn't matter that much to me; it's all fun and it feels good to stop

one more race in Winston Salem and I'll be done with my first year of racing: 14 road/crits and 9 CX total; next year i'm doubling up to do masters and category races whenever possible; hands down most fun of the year: CX; it's too soon to tell but rr/crit/tt could end up being my training for CX; could mtn biking be next?

wanders

Nice report Mike. I'll be doing Winston as well. There's a make-up race in G-boro on Saturday also. I thought about MTB - for about a week. CX races take me about a week to recover from. These old bones...

mikerhymeswith

week recovery...sounds right; no g-boro for me - run out of race passes from the boss; turns out the big hill has a name: "the wall"; didn't know that at the time, but it fits

https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/nor...n/photos/96176

old bones? maybe not; i've been wearing compression hose lately with much joy; the thick kind; cheap experiment: wrap lower leg with ace bandage; feel good?

wanders

My left hip is what take the pounding. Dragging my #215 over barriers and up stairs gets her squealing.


I just looked at the results. To think that Hamblen was 3:11 back when he's been so dominant in the NCCX. It must have been something to watch.

Waiting for ljrichar to report.

ljrichar

What a humbling course. Just when I thought I was learning how to do this, the wall put me back in my place. Saturday, I dropped my chain falling over the 1st time up the wall. Couldn't get it back up w/ the FD, had to stop & do it manually. Got passed by ~15 people. I almost wrecked in that entrance into the woods every time. On the 2nd lap, I forgot to shift down to the small ring in the woods, had to unclip, & then run the bike up as there was no good place to remount w/ riders all around me. It was a rough day.

On Sunday, I was running late, missed my 1st "call up," & got stuck on the 2nd to last row. For some reason my handling seems to improve in the mud. I saw people wrecking all around me but I was staying up. I felt pretty good until I got ran over while dismounting up the wall on the 2nd lap. My right knee was pushed into my chainrings. I finished the last lap w/ blood pouring down my leg. It wasn't too bad then but I've been hobbling around ever since. As long as I'm healed for both races next weekend. I still haven't seen my placings though.

mikerhymeswith

and we didn't get the full mud treatment either