SpongeDad

And so my first cross season ends with SNOW! In an odd sort of way, that's perfect - I'll get to experience the full range of whacked out conditions.

Any extra special advice regarding riding in snow?

bitterken

I bet it's going to be mud by the time the racing starts. The ground is still relatively warm and the pre-riding is going to push the snow into the ground and mix it up with the moist ground.

I'm more concerned about the temps. It's going to be about 10 degrees colder then the other races, and my lungs done like breathing in really cold air.

UBUvelo

yeah, probably similar to what happened today in marysville...2 races in and the wet snow began to stick as well as melt....actually was getting affected in my cat4 race...i had my first fall due to a gummy/wet off camber...actually, watching the later races was almost harder than riding...cold, wet....but beer and small fires helped! have fun

SpongeDad

It's pretty nasty right now, but maybe sunny tomorrow - my wife thinks I'm nuts. Can't beat that.

bdcheung

Rode the course today.

The downhill left hand turn is going to take a ton of people out.

SpongeDad

So what's the best way of handling it? Brake on the way down and pray?

I didn't have time to get over there to try it out.

Lithuania

why do you say that? is it any different than years past? last year is had ice on it and it wasnt too bad.

mzeffex 

Oh boy I'm freakin out. I'm really excited and really nervous. I was looking over my bike in the stand at work to check it out and found the tube poking out in two holes in the front tire. Now i have two boots. Hopefully will work.

bdcheung

Sweetness this morning.

SpongeDad

Here are some pictures from the ODB (Old Dirty or Master B) race.

The leader, taking an early lead.



Mr CXhairs negotiating the big, rutted descent.



Someone who overcooked the big , rutted descent (but then jumped right back on it).



A Christmas Elf.



From the B race, I had a great shot of Lithuania slogging up the muddy hill to the dam (and getting to the front of the group he was in), but my camera froze at that point.

UBUvelo

wow...nice shots....and i'm envious! our race wasn't like that in marysville! still, i was too tired and sore to make the trip down to reston. one day, i'll race in snow

SpongeDad

Today was success of a sort. I did my warm up lap for the C race and decided that the ice was too much and I was going to kill myself. I put my jeans back on and prepared to leave. Then I felt the number I had already pinned onto my jersey and saw Lith powering up the hill to the dam with no apparent difficulty (said power may have had something to do with it).

The course was ridable (kinda), and I took my number. I wasn't going to wuss out even if I had to run the damn the thing. So I stripped down, and rushed to the starting line, barely making it on time. I had a strong first lap, including navigating the rutted descent well and riding the big run up at the back of the course. After than, it was a bit of a slog, but I still managed to pass a few people before getting lapped by the speed boys. Only had one painful crash and that was because the guy in front of me stopped, not because of the conditions.

Of all the conditions, I thought the stone / gravel at the top of the run up after the damn was the sketchiest part of the course.

This has been a great year - my handing skills are ten times what they were in September, I managed to not get lapped on 1 race, and I figured out what I need to focus on to get faster (hills). Plus I got to enjoy the company of a lot of BF folks like Bitterken, who are crossdressers, I mean cross racers. (You heckle me on the course, I heckle you on the internet.)

I can't wait until next year.

bdcheung

my strategy for the stone gravel at the top of the course was to ride far to the right, in the snow. Way smoother than slogging through the rocks.

mzeffex 

I DNF'd. I suppose for a first cross race ever, that's not too bad.. considering the conditions. I slid out once on this and had to run down the hill. I finished a lap and a half.. oh well. I'm really wanting to race again, though, as honestly I'm really ashamed I didn't finish. OH, not to mention, both my derailleurs froze and I couldn't shift, as well as my cleats were covered in ice, so I did 3/4 of the race unclipped.

Lithuania

the downhill rutted section wasnt bad at all because of all the snow slowing it down this year

it was pretty cold. my wife actually pinned my number through my skin and i didnt feel it until i went to line up and i felt my skinsuit snagging on something. i didnt wear gloves in the first race and i could barely shift after one lap. other than that i though the temp was fine. i didnt wear anything on my legs and never noticed being cold.

mzeffex 

The part that annoyed me the most was how I was 1/4 who was in the U19 race. That's a 75% chance of placing.

Also, do you guys mind of I post the photos that are on here on facebook? I didn't get to get any photos - thanks.

One last thing - I know I was photographed - where do you find the photos that the actual photographers (I think he was) took?

SpongeDad

A few more
Gwadzilla(if I’m not mistaken)


Only shot of B race before camera froze up. I think this is Sam O’Keefe (inside of turn) chasing the Russian guy for the lead


You can really see how much more sloppy this hill was after 2 full races and a little sun and warmth in the air (it was 28 when I arrived and 42 when I left not too long after taking this shot).

mzeffex 

Oh man that's a lot worse than when I had it. I had all snow and ice.

Crack Monkey

For pictures, there are a few places to check...

crossresults.com accumulates results and pictures nationally. Cool site that lets you compare yourself against others, matches you your "nemesis" for the season, etc.

And gamjams.net usually has some as well.

cxhairs.com usually has helmet cam vids from the Masters race, and interviews with various race winners.

SpongeDad

Crack - were you not there today?

Wittwer was second (I think) in the Master B race on a 29er (at least someone said it was) with flat bars, balloon tires and big ole front shock.

Lithuania

Man, that course changed so much between 8am and even 8:30 and the rest of the day. My first lap through there were maybe 10 bike tracks on the course and it was impossible to ride no way was i making it up that hill then. By the time I took a second lap around 8:30 I made it up that hill fine. I think it got much worse throughout the day. I managed to make it up each in both the B and A race. I almost died each time I reached the top in the A race.

Im glad you had an awesome year racing. Now what do we have to do to get you racing cx in the red white and blue next year?

jpearl

Holy crap was that race fun (in a painful, CX-kinda way). I was out there at 7:30 in the morning thinking "how the hell are people gonna race this???" - it was just thick, crunchy icy snow and the paved sections were skating rinks. The officials were freaking out, and anybody who showed up after 8:00 AM missed a lot of early-morning panic. But they worked the course nicely, and by race time for the Cat. 4s, the course warmed up enough and the tracks got chewed up enough and patted-down to be race-ready. The officials did a great job in making the course ridable as well, those guys really did a great job today.

All in all, and awesome day of CX racing and CX atmosphere. Got myself a 20th in the Cat. 4 race, and had a muddy, slushy, icy, snowy good time. Not my best season, but a great way to cap the season off none-the less.

mzeffex 

I got there at about quarter to eight, after my car slid down the ramp to the parking lot. That was fun.

Crack Monkey

No, VDOT decided not to plow or salt my street and I drive a Miata. After a day of people coming and going, it was a sheet of packed ice. I spent half an hour stuck in the street before I parked it and went back to bed. Pretty crappy way to end the year, that's for sure.

bdcheung

Results: https://crossresults.com/?n=results&sn=r&raceID=1047