(Click for pictures)

On Sunday, Jen and I drove down to Tacoma for the last race in the Seattle Cyclocross series - Sprinkler. I thought this course would be a bit better for me, but it ended up being so twisty on loose, dry gravel/dirt that I never got a chance to really put down as much power as I could (as opposed to Viking Cross, where there were long, wet, grassy stretches).

I ended up in the second row at the start, which should have been fine, but by the time I hit the first turn in the race, I was 30th or so. On a single file course like this one (because it was so twisty), that means you’re out of the race at the front. I just put my head down, passed people where I could (especially the long running portion up the sand pit), and tried not to act too squirrelly in the turns.

I ended up a sort of respectable 11th, which is a bit frustrating, since I felt like I could’ve fought for the win at the front. Oh well. Hopefully, I’ll learn to start more quickly. My real problem is that I can’t seem to stay ahead in the turns when I’m in a mass of people.

The last cross race of the Cascade Cross series was put on for the UW cycling team in Bremerton, WA.

It ended up being a ton of fun (helps that I won the Men’s C), with a really creative, technical course (sorry, no pictures). Some highlights were a long, twisty descent, a wooden ramp to jump a berm, a 6 inch wooden step into a steep descent, and a “spiral of death” in deep, deep mud.

Amazingly, I got a call-up to the front row from my win at Woolley Cross, so some of the worst parts of a cross race for me were partially alleviated. Unfortunately, my lack of technical skill didn’t help me as I went over the bars on the ditch at the bottom of the descent (first time ever), and wiped out on a slick turn near the finish line. So after the first lap, I was a somewhat distant 4th place. Fortunately, I figured out how to not fall (mostly) after that, and rode the long grass sections as hard as I could. I would put about 20 seconds into the field each lap, and lose about 15 on the descent/ditch. The math works out well on that though, and I ended up drawing even with first place with a lap to go, and opened up a big lead as folks got tired. I was pretty excited that I was able to even ride most of the course, let alone win. Lots of fun - maybe I can try to upgrade to B’s next year...

The main theme of the morning of the Monroe Cyclocross race (before the race actually started) seemed to be that everyone really thought it was terribly cold. It was 39 degrees. As a comparison, State College was 16 degrees, with wind chill, the day before. It’s not even really winter there.

Seattle is awesome.

You know what else is awesome? Cyclocross. What a fun sport. You ride around in the mud, jump off, run, make crazy sharp turns, do nerve-racking (at least to me) downhills, and jump barriers. I love it. I wish I was better, but I love it.

Monroe (photos here) was no exception - it takes place at the local race track, which means there’s at least a bit of pavement. I was very excited about the course initially, since it looked like a long start on pavement, which would be wonderful for me. Unfortunately, it was just about 150m on pavement, then into a 180 degree, muddy, uphill u-turn. After the call-ups, I started in the third row (about 40% through the field). This would be okay, normally, except that in the 180 degree turn, someone in front of me unclipped on the uphill, which means I stalled out, and another 30% passed me. Then, in the infield, someone cut me off, bringing me to a brake-shuddering halt (and surprisingly pissing me off a great deal). This means that after the first half lap, I was in the last 10% of the field (which was sizable). In cyclocross, this means you’re out of the race.

I really wanted to get a good workout in and go fast though, so I put in as much effort as I could over laps 2 and 3, and managed to move up to 11th. 10th was a ways up the road, however, so I wasn’t able to make the catch in the last lap. Overall, I was sort of satisfied with my placing - I really think I could contend for the win with a decent start though, given how much ground I made up in a short time.


The course itself was really creative - there was a 180 degree banked turn, an uphill runup with a 2 foot ditch in front of it (that the old guys complained bitterly about jumping), and an off camber, 90 degree downhill turn that I thought I was going to eat dirt on every time. I was sort of proud of myself (sadly) for not running down it instead. Perhaps someday I’ll develop decent bike-handling skills.

The big improvement for me on the day was my ability to ride mud - I was able to hit some of the deep mud sections at speed without being totally terrified (70% terrified, maybe), and concentrated on keeping my weight back (thanks Randy!) and looking straight ahead, not down (thanks, Bill Strickland!). At least I’m making progress. I also figured out how to clip into the mud better, which I appreciated.

(me in the back, on the first lap)

I really enjoyed this race - sadly, it pushed my limits technically (though nearly everyone said it was a very non-technical course), but I had a great time. (Pictures here).

If I had been a little more gutsy at the start and gotten near the front, I think I could have been in contention for this one - I felt great, and there were some nice sections where riders could lay down a little power. I did line up in an okay spot, for the first time in a long time (second row start). The fast gravel start suited me perfectly, but I’m just not comfortable riding in close quarters yet.

What was really cool was that so many of my new team, Recycled Cycles Racing, were out racing. It’s great to be out with a team that really shows up to races. It ended up paying off for us, since we had 5 in the top 15. Nice.

The course started on a long gravel straightaway, through a set of barriers, and into a series of “S” turns along the length of the speedway. The grass was deep here, with very short pavement sections, which meant that I was able to make up a fair number of places here. Then there was a really steep ride up that I had to hit with a lot of momentum (hard for me to commit to), and a series of small turns.

Then, on the backside of the course, were two notable features. The first was a muddy, steep, downhill that was a full brakes, lean back, try not to fall sort of affair. I saw a few people go down here, which was sort of scary, since it looked like there was a drop-off at the bottom of the hill. After the downhill was a steep runup, with stairs available (which I always took, as the ground looked too muddy). I was able to make up a few seconds here each lap, but the big feature to me was about 400m of straight gravel after the run-up. I threw it into my smallest cog and flew through this section each time. Sometimes, I was able to put 10-15 seconds on people in just this section alone, oddly. Fun.

All in all, I just started too slow, but I consistently picked people off (I don’t think anyone passed me during the race). I got to ride with some Recycled people, and even in the short time I was on the course with them, I got to pick up some small skills tip for how to ride a cross race faster. Hopefully, I’ll develop some riding skills and come back strong next year.

Woolley Cross - this is a part of the Cascade Cross series.

Check out the SmugMug gallery for more pictures, but it was held at a really cool abandoned farm (a dairy?), which gave a great backdrop for a really fun race. The course was easily the most wide open ‘cross course I’ve ever done, as it was 10 feet (or more) wide nearly the whole length of the course, with few sharp turns. In other words, a course pretty much tailored for me. There was one turn of increasing radius, a couple of ride/run-ups (I ended up running all of them on most laps), and one set of barriers. On a wonderfully warm, sunny, mid-November day (good bye, State College), this turned into a pretty straightforward go-fast-through-gass-fest. Fun.

To top it off, the race started LeMans style, which means you run to your bikes to start. At most races, I start mid way through the pack, get nervous about all the riders near me, fall back a bit some more, then wallow in mediocrity until people start getting tired. I start making up places really quickly at this point, but in ‘cross, you have to race at the front to really have a short (really, most crit races are like this too).

In this one, however, I get to run for my starting place. Nice. I started riding too early through deep grass (instead of running my bike), so I only started 5th, but it was close enough to the front to let me ride my own race. I passed the first placed rider halfway through the first of 4 laps, and asked him how far ahead the leaders were. By the end of the first lap, I had opened up a 15-30 second lead. By the end of the second lap, I could no longer see any other riders behind me, so I focussed on not blowing up, rode a steady race, and finished rather strong-ish. Granted, it’s only a Men’s C race, but I’m looking forward to getting my 6 races in, getting my upgrade, and learning a lot getting spanked by the Men’s B/Cat 3’s.

All in all, this was the most fun I’ve had at a cross race so far - I like being able to go fast on grass. I usually don’t get a chance to use my fitness in cross races, since I’m too slow around corners to really put down much speed. But that day, I got to do a lot of hard riding, outdoors, in grass, on a fun bike through some mud. It’s all my favorite parts of ‘cross, and I’m looking forward to doing as much ‘cross racing in WA as I can.

This race was ridiculously muddy, and consequently (since I have no bike handling skills), really bad for me.