2011 Cyclocross Season

New bike and new kit

Since it is October 3^rd, I can say that cyclocross season is in full swing.  After a lack luster road season and an upgrade to Cat 3, based on the peer pressure provided by Bill’s (www.cxhairs.com) daughter to upgrade, Winchester AppleCross was my third race of the season.

I do feel obligated to throw out a little caveat to start, unfortunately less than four weeks ago, during some cross practice, a GamJams rider and I got tied up together in a sprint resulting in a few fractured ribs and fractured thumb.  So I laid off the bike for a week then hit Charm City (Cat 2/3/4).  I was scheduled to race both days, but Saturday was about all that I could do ending with a pitiful 98^th, out of 106.  Well at least it was a top 100.   The following week was spend nurturing the ribs and reflecting on how I should have really done the Greenbelt races on Wednesday, road the “A” group rides on Tuesday nights at Freshbikes and should have probably jumped into the goon ride on Saturday mornings.  Would’ve, could’ve, should’ve, but didn’t, but hell I at least have the ribs to blame, right?

Then came Tacchino, great, I get to race in the Masters ¾ (35+/45+).  Speaking of which, why is it 35+, 45+ when they all seem to be scored as one race, is it just so I can say, well I was 28^th in the 45+, not 90^th??  Hmmm… maybe I will ask Bill next time I see him, but I digress.  Tacchino was a great course, did most of everything that I was supposed to, up until the point in time that my bibs got caught on the back of the saddle and I slammed into the barrier, yep, ass over teacup.  For those who are Facebook friends you too can watch the video at Tacchino Barrier.  Had to do a bike swap in the pits then headed out.  Long race and yet another pitiful finish, 95^th of 111.  I guess good and bad, the ribs were not hurting as bad so nothing to blame except for me.

So the following week, I spent my nights in the garage on the computrainer, hammering out a few Sufferfest Videos, by Saturday morning I felt pretty good ready for Sunday.

Winchester AppleCross is always a great venue, I really love the course.  One of the things that I need to work on is my bikereg double click.  I have Sram Red so I have the double tap down, but the double click not so well.  So my starting position was 52^nd.  Lot of guys between me and the hole shot. 

We lined up and we ready to go, once the gun popped, we were off.  My first obstacle, the guy sitting in 32-39, yes he was jacking with his Garmin, really??? your Garmin, trust me, follow the guys in front, you will not get lost.  If you want heart rate data?  What is your max? Multiply it over 40 minutes.  If you want TSS, easy, take 40 min/60 min x 100 = should be between 66 and 70 for the TSS.

After that it was just a game of about ten of us racing, swapping positions and pushing through the mud.  I picked some good lines and picked some really stupid ones.  I hit the ground a couple of times and dropped the chain once.  The chain drop was the only one where I really lost some time, probably 10 or 15 seconds.  Looking back, I know of about a minute of just stupidity.  I had a few moments of real racing; I hit the Belgium Wall really hard and put in a solid effort (another video - Belgium Wall).  I race the entire time and in my group of 10, hit 2^nd giving me a 40^th finish. 

So what are my season goals? Well, really focus on being in the top half, working on my bikereg double-click, and getting my crossresults.com points from a current 561 to 480.   I guess I am gonna spend a lot of time on the Computrainer.   Next race?  Hyattsville.