Crossin 4 Canines

[Bruce]

Not sure why more people don't head down for this. Nice course in a dog park/conservation area....big enough to run a 10-11 min lap. No runups to speak of but 4 sets of barriers, one fast, one right turn, one left turn and one that was half size to encourage hopping. The place had a lot of elevation change, so you felt like you were going uphill alot. It was bone dry and there were many downhill really fast 90 to 180 degree turns.

I've been battling a cold since last Fri and wasn't feeling much like racing, but I figured what the hell. I showed up for the Masters 45+ race in a semi daze. It didn't help that it was 85 degrees by race time. By the end of lap 1 my nose was running like a friggin spout. The combination of being outclassed these days in an A masters race, having a cold, and really bad tire choice left me in the back third of the race.

I ran Hutchinson Bulldogs tubeless at 35 psi..the course was very hard and bumpy so I thought running the higher volume tire at lower psi would enable me to put more power down. But they just grabbed the grass/dirt. Everyone who was going fast ran a file tread or similar. To add insult to injury my front tire literally came off the rim with a loud EXPLOSION! on lap three.....it happened when I was jumping back on my bike while turning. Race over.

I toyed with the idea of sticking around for the 3/4 race, but went to Tim Hortons instead for a club sandwich and an apple cider doughnut. Happy daze.

[taudep]

That sucks about your front tire, Bruce. We were just talking this morning about rolling tubbies while mounting the bike.

There's more days to battle ahead, like Suckerbrook tomorrow.

[onegeardoug]

I pinch flatted on this course last year on lap 2. Seemed like a cool event though.

[Bruce]

Thanks Dude. Todd -- do you still run those Hutchinson tubeless?

[ddeitch]

I showed up early for the 4 race at 9. Good results today. Got an excellent warm-up, two solid laps of course inspection, and arrived at the line primed and ready. Heeding Ken's advice, I eased into the start and looked for holes. Off the line, I was somewhere near the back of the pack, softpedaling and looking for holes. First turn is a sweeping right, a short straight uphill, and then a hard 180 left turn into the grass. The pack goes right up the middle, offering up a delicious opportunity for strategy. Driving like a true masshole, I went all the way up the outside and divebombed the 180 turn right into the pack, slamming the door on the bottom half of the field. I found a good wheel and countered his moves all the way up to the lead group. At this point I started riding defensively, shutting down corners and out-turning chasers. We stayed in touch with the top 10, working together for the middle laps of the race and shedding riders until we had a big gap; nobody in the rear view for at least a minute going into the last lap. On our last shot up the final climb, the friendship was over. I attacked over the top and closed the gap to rider #12. He managed to squeeze through the sketchy final corner ahead of me. I broke out a good sprint, but he had a bike length on me at the line.
13th overall, I think the field was about 50 deep; my best performance in cross so far.
Sorry to hear about your mishaps, Bruce. I was running Fire CX clinchers with mud and I was drifting like I being chased by the fuzz.

[rusto]

Nice job David!

[taudep]

@Bruce, I never ran my Hutchinsons tubeless. I till run them, though, sometimes for training. (I'm well on my way to becoming "that guy" who only rides tubulars.)

[Bruce]

19 549 M. Andrew Ruiz CCC/Keltic Construction Delmar NY
20 556 Bruce Thompson Minuteman Road Club Sudbury MA


Ha ha ha! I wish...how many races he won...150?

Like i was sayin about Bike Reg results