DCCX

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pcollins
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DCCX

Post by pcollins »

For those of you who have been following along for a few years, you probably know that I’ve been hunting for those "elusive UCI points" for a while. Just one point is an enormous game changer, as there’s no more dealing with random staging, it’s basically a golden ticket to a guaranteed staging in the top 3 rows. I made the trip down to DC this past weekend in hopes to crack the top 10 and get some points, as it was the “lightest” UCI field I’d ever seen on pre-reg. Race predictor had me in 14th place for each day.

Saturday, day 1, was rough. To keep it short… bad start, got chopped which sheared off the ratchet on my shoe, flatted twice, after all that I just rode high tempo to save myself for Sunday. I had these same mechanicals at Gloucester, and knew something was wrong with my tire setup. I tried borrowing another pump on Sunday before the race and realized my pump gauge has been reading 10psi high since at least Night Weasels, so I’d put in “30psi” but it would actually be 20psi.

I got some decent sleep Saturday night on a friend's couch in a house literally across the street from the venue, which was super convenient.
Now with proper pressure in my tires, and a fire in my belly, I had a great start on Sunday, moving up from 3rd row to ~12th at the holeshot. About 1.5 laps in, I had comfortably solidified my place in the second major group, which was around 6 of us in places ~7-12. I stayed calm, took some turns on the front, and the group eventually whittled down to 3, Davis, Rice and I, after Chabanov flatted out and others were dropped.

There were some “cat-and-mouse games” going on between Davis and Rice, as they race together a lot, so I ended up on the front quite a bit on the pedal heavy course, which was kind of dumb in hindsight. I towed us up to Selander and Livermon, about 25% into the race. Riding behind these guys was surreal. It was amazing to be racing with them and feel comfortable, like I belonged there. We (the original trio) hung on the back of Selander and Livermon for a lap, then they got a gap in a very tricky section and were gone.

Davis and Rice followed every single one of each other’s moves, even if that meant chopping me hard, several times in the case of Davis. His last chop, with ~1.5 laps to go, nearly crashed me out, forcing me to unclip, which opened up a gap that I couldn’t close. He came up to me to apologize after the race, which I appreciate, but I wish he hadn’t done it in the first place…

I rolled in solo for 9th, stoked out of my mind that I finally cracked the top 10 and captured my first UCI points! No more random draws! No more last row starts! Hopefully not much more scrub zone chaos! More top 10s and more points will hopefully be easier now. Last year I drove home from DCCX with a broken wrist, so I'd say that this year went better :)

Next up is HPCX in New Jersey!
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Mkidd3
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Re: DCCX

Post by Mkidd3 »

Very well done Patrick!
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pace21
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Re: DCCX

Post by pace21 »

That’s awesome dude. Hard work and tenacity pay off.
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JeremyC
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Re: DCCX

Post by JeremyC »

Great job PC. #nevertrustthepump

Serious question: What is the etiquette with chopping in CX. I yell at people in crits, because it is much more dangerous to shut the door at 30mph. In CX it seems inevitable in tight quarters. Better to be the chopper than the choppee. Just wondering...
Briana
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Re: DCCX

Post by Briana »

Congrats Patrick, it feels good when a race comes together as planned. I'm sure the ride home from DC was much more relaxing this year.

Brian
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cbusick
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Re: DCCX

Post by cbusick »

Screen Shot 2017-10-25 at 9.21.10 AM.png
Screen Shot 2017-10-25 at 9.21.10 AM.png (189.7 KiB) Viewed 4609 times
Sweet, now we have 2 guys on the elite team with UCI points.
That's some good company you and Nate are keeping. keep it coming
-Chris Busick
pcollins
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Re: DCCX

Post by pcollins »

Thanks guys!
JeremyC wrote: Wed Oct 25, 2017 8:30 am Serious question: What is the etiquette with chopping in CX. I yell at people in crits, because it is much more dangerous to shut the door at 30mph. In CX it seems inevitable in tight quarters. Better to be the chopper than the choppee. Just wondering...
Chopping ≠ closing the door.
A chopper is someone who makes a bad pass going into a corner, 99% of the time dive bombing the inside, forcing the person they're chopping off the race line, slowing them down, causing crashes, etc... The start of a CX race is a chopfest in the scrub zone, and I guess people just accept it, but it's still a sh!tty thing to do and you'll piss people off doing it. When you're well into a race and riding in a small group, chopping should never happen.
As for "closing the door", that's usually a defensive move to stop someone from chopping you, so it's acceptable, but it's hard for me to do because I'm small and if I end up making contact with someone, its probably me that goes down.
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JeremyC
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Re: DCCX

Post by JeremyC »

Thanks for the clarification. Yes it does sound like a shitty thing to do.
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KTeves
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Re: DCCX

Post by KTeves »

That's awesome Pat. Well done!
KT
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