Cyclocross secret rule #1: When the guy says "go!" he means the race is starting, please don't just stand there. I was lost in my thoughts at the start line, missed the go and started dead last. Cheese please.
These guys went on 'go'
I think if anything my slow start probably helped my overall race since it forced me to have a pretty nice warm up on an extremely bitter, typical NY fall day. The few flurries I noticed while pre-riding had me anxious for some snow, but no luck. One things for sure-I have a lot of work to do to get my Cross starts to where i'm happy with them. Two crap starts in a row. To quote Victor, who shouted this at me last week every time I passed him, "that ain't no mountain bike!" Hahaha. Rock on. This ain't no roadie!!!!!
Go!
What a fun race. First of all, both my wheels stayed on my rig the entire race :) What more could a guy ask for?! The xtr mtb skewers are a much better fit then those flimsy road ones. Second, the course was pretty much a gravel race track through the woods with some really sweet natural features, one set of the usual cross barriers, and of course plenty of field to bring on the burn. It was the type of course that became more fun with each lap as I found the best lines. Picking a line for a Cross rig is a far cry from on the mtb but i'm getting the hang of it. I'm getting better at predicting how much speed the rig will or will not carry, and how my torque effects traction and speed. Torque on the Cross rig doesn't always = speed. It's just so different then I expected it to be in those situations, but it forces the correct and fastest decision/line/technique naturally so it's got to be good for my mountain riding. If anything my body will thank me for the added finesse it's teaching me.
Lots of space between the
barriers today.
Today the race started on the road with a short sprint to some grass, then into a wooded gravel bike path with a technical section of muddy off camber roots that not many people rode. The skinny Speed Kings are so nice on mud. I'm sure if 'Velcro' wasn't trademarked that's what Continental would have named them. That spot then lead us right onto a bridge with a very short almost-climb onto the twisty and loose gravel race track, which eventually wrapped around into a tight gravel S turn onto another bridge, up the gravel hill into the mud, another tight turn and through the chatter up some huge dirt steps, down the other side of the house-sized dirt pile (hurry to clip back in) and then off the bike again five seconds later through the barriers, quick!-hop back on, zig zag though some field and a final crazy mud/chopped up rooty dismount turn, a little more field, then back onto the road through the finish where it started. Complete with an announcer, food, beer garden and some great race fans.
Saaweet dirt mountain obstacle!
My teammate Katina rolled a tire and was still able to ride it out, pulling a 2nd place finish and putting Crankskins on the podium again. That woman sure can churn and burn. Another impressive effort.
I snagged a few training tips from Jeff while we watched Katina's race so i'm stoked to get out and try some new exercises this week that should help improve my pedal strokes and promote steady power output. After this race I feel like I have the hang of the gearing, and I actually found a couple combos I really like. It's strange because on the mtb I never learned to shift. I just hopped on and never gave it a thought. On the Cross rig though I have been picking some horrible gears, usually in clutch situations. Today I set my cadence alarm to keep me from churning in those bad gears and it made a notable difference. If the Garmin would simply shock me during training rides rather then just sound it's audible alarm i'd probably learn a lot quicker (like those K9 obedience collars).
I had quite an epiphany today-it's not that the Cross rig doesn't carry speed well, it is just so easily influenced by tiny variances in terrain. One pebble can and will take all of it's momentum away almost instantly. Easy fix though, just never stop pedaling. Even if I feel like i'm too spent to put any power to the pedals just keep them spinning and it's amazing how much speed the rig will carry without much effort.
First Cyclocross race was today. It was the Park Ave Bike Halloween Cyclocross Race. PAB races are always a good time. Jeffina came out too, Jeff has had one heck of an awesome season but today he wasn't feeling it so he didn't race. Jeff, Chelsea and I watched Katina's race before mine began. I'm not sure where she finished but she dropped the hammer. I'm sure she podiumed. It was an impressive effort.
A couple of Single Track Academy riders were racing too. I was pretty stoked to see them but I was not impressed with the way a few of their much older and more experienced competitors were barging past with little or no notice. Come on! Give the kids a heads up! They're gonna be hamming us all into the ground in a few years anyways. Mad props to the SA crew!
I was somewhat surprised with my experience. First of all I had more fun then I expected (I prefer longer races), and second, despite my 19th place finish I was very happy with how well I did crossing the barriers. I've practiced my mounts/dismounts the past few weeks, and except for one instance where I couldn't get unclipped and rammed the barrier like a total newb I was happy with my execution of what I expected would be the hardest part of the race. There's nothing like fairy hopping over barriers while your heart rate's approaching redline. In my opinion it's way harder then just bunny hopping them.
I was not ready at all for the start. In xc race starts it's always a pure adrenaline fueled rage fest to get the hole shot. The Cross race though had a very mild start. I was in too big of a gear for the initial pace and I had to try hard not to rub anyone since I shot out of the gate but was in the middle of the pack.
So...first lap my rear wheel fell off my bike after I set it down too hard/off camber remounting (yeah, I said fell off). Second lap-same spot, wheel fell off again. What the huck!!?? Gotta figure that out. When it happened the first time I had no idea and hopped on the bike only to mash the cassette into everything possible. Most of my shifting was done for me at the bike's discretion for the rest of the race and the rear wheel was not spinning very well. I was extremely careful not to put too much off camber stress on the rear end for the rest of the race and it didn't give me any more trouble. I rarely have mechanicals (knock on wood) so I guess I shouldn't whine about it. Another racer told me that the skewer is junk and I need to change it so that will be my next move. He showed me how the skewer's lever has no built in stop so when you crank it down it can be tightened too far, which will then cause it to loosen over time without much notice. Much like when you go past the threads on a jar of pickles and it pops open again. Come on! I'm glad the mtb industry is looking after me with their idiot proof skewers or i'd be in trouble.
This sport's way too fast to make up any time spent standing trailside figuring out your wheel's not attached to your rig, or any other sort of mechanical for that matter. Everyone there was flying. It was an extreme pace that I haven't seen many times before. A couple of guys and I saw a lot of each other way out in no man's land towards the end of the race. We rode close but excelled at different portions of the course so we passed each other multiple times.
Last lap I knew I was fighting to not finish last and had a wicked nice line down a tight, wet pavement into gravel switcher section. At the very last second one of the guys I was jockeying with popped into the inside line of the turn's exit and I had to lock up my brakes without much notice. It was not his fault by any means, if you'd have seen it you'd agree. We both took opposite lines, and were both in the wrong place at the wrong time when they converged. I'm unsure if he even saw me. Anyways, when I had to pull the e-brake it was right where the pavement transitioned into gravel, with deep potholes scattered about. I started to drift and pulled out of it, almost regained control only to careen out of control around the transition into the next gravel turn, almost regained control again and eventually ate it. It was one of those long and drawn out 'i'm still holding onto the bike, still clipped in, still drifting sideways on the gravel' wrecks. I hopped up, remounted and now my wheels wouldn't spin! Man these rigs are dainty! I started to run it out when some one happened to be standing there and said "here finish on my rig" so I hopped on and quickly realized it had egg beaters (I ride times). To make it even more fun I couldn't reach the brakes or the pedals while sitting down. Lol. Still way better then running the remaining stretch though. I just stood up to the finish which thankfully was very near by. I owe him big time!
All in all i'd say it was a fun day. I'll certainly be back. I'm not great at the short races, so Cross will help me improve for sure, and it's just such a blast. It seems to require much more overall athleticism then most xc races. The hardest part for me is steady hr and power output with such different gearing then i'm used to but i'm sure I will adjust. I feel a little bad for my rig. It's not use to the abuse it endured today, and I hope when I put it back together tomorrow it works. I think/hope it just needs some TLC and a skewer.
My new wheelz!!! 07' Specialized Tricross Expert Double
Just a few shots of me having some fun on my new cross rig
I finally found a cross rig a couple of weeks ago and I have been living in a state of euphoric, cyclocross induced haze ever since. It's such an amazing combination of speed, torque and finesse. I could not have found a better deal on it either. I finally had some luck come my way :) A kid at a college about two hours away was selling it on Craigslist-never taken off road, original fuzzies still on it's original tires. I just wish he'd WRAPPED HIS CRANKS! The only blemish on it-a heal scuff on the crank arm. I've put more miles (and dents) on it in two weeks then he did the entire time he owned it, but I wrapped it pretty well with a healthy helping of Crankskins 8mil protectant so it's good to go.
It's got Zertz inserts and a carbon fork/rear triangle so it provides an amazingly smooth, supple ride. It's got a carbon crank set, carbon headset, carbon seat post, and some decent wheels so it's wicked light. It comes in at just over 17lbs with a Garmin, water bottle, and some knobby tires.
Since the rear end is designed to have some flex to it i've been working on learning it's arc and I am getting more confident loading it. It's amazing how the rig can be snapped around, the thing just flies through the woods. It tracks like it's on rails and launches out of turns. It stops much like an ocean liner though-lol. It's short wheelbase has taught me a few lessons too. The subtle flex in the rear is almost impossible to explain-it's got such a tiny sweet spot but figuring out how to manipulate it does wonders for flow in rooty/rocky terrain as well as when hopping and sprinting up rough hills. When I plan on it to react though, and I miss that tiny little sweet spot man is it punishing. I am learning the things not to do on a cross rig almost as quickly as i'm learning what it can do-lol. It only flexes under very specific circumstances, and could not be a stiffer pedaling platform. It is certainly the most responsive rig i've ever had the privilege of mounting.
The first thing I did was loose the slicks. I slapped some Continental Speed Kings on it and was delighted to find that I love them just as much on the Tricross as I do on mtb's. I prefer them so much that I even put one on this template up top. They're the perfect match for my 'gonzo' riding style. I prefer running firm tires on my mtb, so i'm right at home with 50-55psi. All in all i'm very surprised at how natural the transition has been.
I'm going to do my first cross race this weekend. I've never had a fully rigid rig before, and certainly nothing even close to a cross rig so i'm thrilled to be learning so much with every ride. Ripping the trails on it has been much like a bike boot camp. I was supposed to do my first cross race last weekend but I came down with something awful. I don't have any great expectations after watching those racers rip it up at Ellison earlier in the season, but i'm looking forward to trying something new and also to the fitness I should be able to gain from such intense efforts. I think that I am going to find that I enjoy Cyclocross racing a lot, but that I really just prefer to use the cross rig as an all mountain machine. I've literally never had so much fun on a bike. Can't explain it, but I feel like I just found my soul mate of bikes.
Now that i've had some time on it i've realized that a lot of my ride time while on suspended rigs is actually down time while i'm waiting for the suspension to do it's thing. With the cross rig it's so much faster. No time to do anything other then survive. What a rush. If you find yourself making a mistake there's not even time to try and correct it, rather you have to just make your next move. What happened is over, what's happening is out of your hands-the only control you have on a cross rig is your next move, and by the time you figure out what that next move is it's usually too late! Constant, crazy intensity that requires a special focus and zen which I have not been able to achieve in years.
I think it's going to allow me to really step up my riding in time for next season both technically and aerobically. It's gearing is so hard in comparison to my mtb that I can already feel it making me stronger, and the long road and trail blended rides a few times a week are a nice break from real life, as well as exactly what I need to grow my fitness.
I'm really glad to finally be crossin' it! :) :) :)
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