really rad cx

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ppereira
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Joined: Fri Jan 19, 2018 5:26 pm

really rad cx

Post by ppereira »

Well, Day 1 is all set for me (also racing tomorrow). As always, in the 4/5 field, we had a small but eager group with Chris Mitchell and John Brodie representing for the day. With the rain yesterday and overnight I knew it would be another mudfest, but I was hopeful that the rain would have let up by race time at 10:30, and for a bit it seemed like it had, but it started raining again right before staging and didn't end until after the race. I heard a lot of noisy drivetrains today

Was staged in 4th row, I think (I was 44 of 85 for initial staging, although we had 70 starters), right behind Chris and just tried to stick with him from the gun, which of course didn't last very long. Had good lap times for the first 2, on the 3rd lap stumbled a bit trying to ride where I should have run and had a couple of guys pass me. Then had some issues with the rear mech so wasn't really getting into harder gears (fortunately sorted itself out toward the end). Anyhow, finished 25/70, so a good (for me) finish, would have loved to claim a few more spots but I'll take anything that's better than my staging position, and my crossresults points should go down by 10pts to 508, not bad considering I started the year at 622.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a faster, drier course, looking forward to more fun.
ppereira
Domestique
Posts: 150
Joined: Fri Jan 19, 2018 5:26 pm

Re: really rad cx

Post by ppereira »

Day 2: ugh. 5th row staging, but again get a good start, and I think by the time we're through the sand (which I ran whilst watching many fumble through it) and headed to the first run-up, I might have been top 20 (at least considering who was around me), I then get knocked off the bike on the downhill portion of that off-camber section. That resulted in a dropped chain and a drop in positioning (according to Chris B I was 47th as I passed by him). And in hindsight, should have just run that section because of the chaos there. Based on the results, I worked my way back to 42nd and possibly could have gained some more, but flatted on the 4th lap. I guess I could have tried to ride on it like I did in Gloucester but I was already frustrated about the earlier incident.

Oh well, doing Coonamessett Farm next week, with 16 signed up so far I can get top 10 lol
Briana
Chasseur
Posts: 600
Joined: Fri Aug 18, 2017 11:23 am
Location: Ashland, MA

Re: really rad cx

Post by Briana »

Opted out of Sat due to the weather forecast and chose to double up on Sunday in the Master 40+ and CAT 2,3,4.

YAY, I arrive and the sun is shining brightly. A quick couple lap course preview and I'm liking the course. It's fairly dry and has some interesting features that make it fast and fun. The entire course was ride-able with a bit of skill aside from the tall barriers near the sand.

Master's 40+, this wasn't a very strong field, I was called up second after Jeff Craddick. Jeff and I were in a 2 man battle the entire race, with 3rd place about 2 minutes behind. I led most of the race. I was able to get a couple second gap in some spots but he would bring me back when I recovered on the straights. I was careful not to just drag him around the entire race but I was worried he would drop me if I let him lead. On the last lap Jeff pushed hard and took the lead into the "Belgian" steps. We were starting to get into lapped traffic so I decided I'd give running the steps a try, I sprinted to the top of the hill, re-mounted and we were side by side. Jeff led into the next right hander as we came into more lapped riders, one went down in the corner and that was just enough for Jeff to get a gap on me. I couldn't catch back on before the finish. It was a great race but finishing 2nd was enough to cost me about 30 cross results points.

CAT 2,3,4 Race predictor had me predicted to win this one due to my inflated masters points. I was called up 1st and lined up on the front row next to a bunch of 18 year olds that could careless about their safety. I got a good start and was second into the first turn behind Josh Anthony (at least he's only 9 years younger than me). A group of about 10 of us were close on the 1st lap, Josh flipped over the bars on the steps which put me in the lead for a lap or two and then the young kids finally started to push the pace on the old man. Lipinski, Weigel, Piepgras led the next couple laps with places 4-8 in pursuit. I think I was in 6th going into the sand on lap 3 or 4 when I bailed over the bars spectacularly. Thankfully I took out 7 and 8 so they couldn't get away. We got untangled and some how I was still leading our group of three. On the last lap I got caught on the tape on the right side of the steps and 7 and 8 got by. I hung on but wasn't able to get them in the sprint finish. 8th was respectable but another race with my points going in the wrong direction. The little details and mistakes make a big difference.

See you in NOHO.

Brian
Brian Anderson
dantelman
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Re: really rad cx

Post by dantelman »

Nice report Brian! Hopefully no one hurt.. it happens to the best. At Sunday's UCI PanAm championship, Stephen Hyde must have mis-timed his dismount into the stair case and crashed pretty hard. Took him a while to get up, and then he dropped out shortly after the fall. Luckily he was OK (although I bet he is sore today) after hitting hard on concrete/stone staircase.
Hup Hup
chrismitchell
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Re: really rad cx

Post by chrismitchell »

DAY 1 Men CAT 4/5:
Day 1, race 1. Points had been trending in the right direction lately with some consistent finishes giving me a pretty good start on the third row with Phil right behind me. I couldn't clip in for the life of me at the start and lost a few spots, finally succeeding before the first turn. It was pretty hectic but I managed to avoid anyone smashing into me which has been an issue as of late.. I made pretty solid progress for the first half lap or so, passing groups of riders as I ran some of the slick off camber turns. After running by a few UVM guys who were tangled up, I jumped back on my bike and felt the Boa strap on my left shoe give out. This led to me muttering a series of 4 letter words while I tried to figure out my next move. I decided to try and ride on the best I could. After the field started to spread out a bit I decided to pull over and check it out to see if I could fix it. That's when I noticed that my entire Boa system ceased to exist, it was somewhere in the course buried in about 5 inches of mud. For those of you who have not tried running through mud with an untied shoe, I do not recommend it. Each time I'd unclip I'd curl my toes up at the end of my shoes and pray that my shoe would stay on my foot. Being that it was a muddy course, there was quite a bit of running that was required, of course after my shoe exploded my 'run' turned into more of a shuffle that had me looking like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. I contemplated pulling off but after bleeding 4 or 5 spots I started to hold my ground. In the end I lost some style points but still managed to pull off a decent finish coming in 12/70.

DAY 1 Men CAT 2/3/4:
Day 1, race 2. Since the course conditions were so perfect for my first race I decided to try my hand at the 2/3/4 race a couple hours later. I started in the back, where I would remain for the rest of the race (spoiler alert). I was amazed at how much worse the course had gotten since my 4/5 race two hours earlier. The turns and off camber sections had been deadly all day, but by this point in the day I could hardly keep the bike moving in a straight line on the straightaways. I decided to choose a functional pair of shoes for this race which probably helped me out in the long run (see what I did there). Unfortunately my backup shoes were my winter shoes which do not have cleats. On many occasions during this cross season I have pedaled my bike only to have it sink in the mud and seemingly move backwards, however, this was my first experience doing this while running. Apparently my running in place was at least faster than some. I officially ended up with 36/44. Not dead last and about 5 spots better than race predictor had me. I really wish I had taken an audio recording of my bike spinning after this race. It was a symphony with the bottom bracket, brakes, and drive train all banding together to make a noise that sounded a lot like nails running down a chalkboard.

DAY 2 Men CAT 2/3/4:
Day 2, race 1. Once I realized that my bottom bracket did not seize overnight I decided to take another run at the 2/3/4 race. I showed up later than I normally would since I already knew the course... Except that they changed the course... The previous days' slip and slide had me change out shoes once again, going with the third string shoes. Better traction than my winter shoes but my left cleat was a bit rounded causing it to spontaneously pop out of my pedal. I ended up with a game time decision to either preride the course or change out my cleats. I opted for a course preview which probably helped more than the shoes hurt. I reg'd day of for this one so I ended up lining up in the back row. I nearly killed myself in the first 10 feet when I got tangled in the handlebars of the rider next to me, somehow I managed to stay upright, but I wasn't able to make a move at the start like I had hoped. After clearing the barriers I decided to take a peek behind me, there was nothing there, I was hanging in DFL and I was not okay with it. I ran past a few riders in the sand and started picking my way through the field a bit. By the middle of the second lap I was hanging off the back of the 2nd to last group with the last big pack maybe 10 seconds back. I could not hold the pace though, I was pushing as hard as I could to the point that I was making at least 4 or 5 unforced errors on the second and third lap. I dialed it back a bit by the end of the third lap, started to get my heart rate under control. This all but eliminated the unforced errors and I saw that I was starting to pull away from a few guys who seemed to be gaining ground on previous laps. I nearly snuck up and stole a spot at the finish line but couldn't quite make it. I finished 57/65. Not very good, but again, better than the race predictor.

Overall it was a fun weekend of racing. Big thanks to John Brodie and Phil for toughing it out on Saturday racing the 4/5 and cheering me on during the 2/3/4 race!
Briana
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Location: Ashland, MA

Re: really rad cx

Post by Briana »

chrismitchell wrote: Mon Nov 05, 2018 12:09 pm I dialed it back a bit by the end of the third lap, started to get my heart rate under control.
I don't understand these words you are speaking?
Brian Anderson
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eboos
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Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2018 8:38 am

Re: really rad cx

Post by eboos »

Sunday Cat 4/5

No real surprises in this race. Started 7th row, and it was like a parking lot. Between the barriers, the sand, the run up and the off camber corner that wasn't very rideable early in the lap it was a drain on my energy. Looking at my data, I wasn't pedaling very efficiently. When I was on, I was spinning often over 100 rpm when I seem to be most efficient at 90. Should have pushed a harder gear. Not wasting energy is something that I am trying to work on.

Due to Phil's early race misfortune, I got to stick to his wheel for a lap while we were weaving our way through what seemed like a platoon of Army West Point riders. It was pretty fun both of us passing people at the same time. I think by the end of the second lap I wasn't able to hang on to him any longer.

Ended up having a good battle with Andy Huff from Pedal Power, and we traded positions a few times in the last lap. I thought I had him when I passed him in the final run up, but he passed me in the back straight. I tried to keep from getting gapped and I heard Peter Mead close behind me. Approaching the finishing sprint I got in the drops tucked in and started to put out some power. It wasn't enough to catch Andy, but I was able to hold off Peter. 51/88.
J.Brodie
Autobus
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Re: really rad cx

Post by J.Brodie »

Saturday Cat 4/5

Like Phil mentioned the rain started to slow a bit and then right as we were about to start it picked up again and on came the wind machine. For sure I need to work on my starts to try and get closer to the front of the group, so for the full race pretty much stayed in the same position I started in. I think I passed 1 or 2 at some point but it really just turned into a race against myself to try and get faster and chose good lines. I got the hang of a few sections, staying out of the mud and taking relatively dry and I think faster lines but there were a few spots where I consistently lost a ton of time every lap.

It was only my second race so I'm still figuring things out and learning, but one thing is for sure, I need to go faster. For cross on my wahoo I usually have data of speed, heart rate and time. I think seeing my heart rate makes me want to use some spots on the course for a "micro-rest", so I'm going to try and race on feel and ignore that.

The wahoo now has 3 data points showing for cross...current lap time, previous lap time, and total lap time. Maybe even that's too much, trying not to be a slave to the data ;).

It was a great time for some epic New England conditions though!

My wife raced on Sunday and I was surprised how fast the course dried out, and it looked like they added a few more technical areas. My son had a blast in the Sunday kid's race too so it was a great family weekend!
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