Fort Ritchie Cyclocross Challenge 2013

Fort Ritchie Cyclocross Challenge

9-8-13

 

     Welcome back to Cross season! I was really excited about this race, after having a much better road season than last year I couldn't wait to see how I would do in cyclocross. I also knew this course was pretty flat for a cross course, so I was hoping to open up the legs on the straights.

 

     I arrived to the race 2 hours ahead of my start time to pre-ride the course and to have plenty of time to warm up. I like to pre-ride the course to get an idea of what to expect and to find good lines through the turns. The first half of the course was not too bad and included the usual double barrier set up and a really steep uphill that was rideable, but I knew that as the lap count increased, my ability to ride it would become more difficult. The second half of the course was very rough and rutted, trying to find a good line on this terrain was difficult. I finished up my ride and headed back to the car to start my warm up.

 

     I hopped on the trainer, accompanied by my support crew(Rik), and started my warm up. We chatted about my race and his up coming State Championship TT. He asked how I felt going into the race and I honestly was optimistic about my upcoming performance. He was looking forward to riding his new TT bike for his bid at a state medal. I finished my warm up after approximately 40minutes, switched bikes, and headed back over to the course to do one last lap but it was too late, they were calling my race to the starting line.

 

     My team mate Kraeg and I headed over to the starting line. I practiced a couple starts to get my clip in down. The Chief Ref(CR) started calling us up, Kraeg ended up in the Second row and I was right behind him in the third, and the 15-18 Jr Boys lined up behind us in the fifth row. The CR gave us some final instructions before firing the starting gun and off we went!

 

     I was hoping to get a good start and power up into the front pack, but my lack of training and the fact that I was racing up in category meant that I was not going very far forward. Racing up in category means, that I'm racing with guys in a more experienced category(Cat 3), and I'm a Cat 4. I was unprepared for the pace these guys were setting, right from the gun I was losing ground on the leaders. This wasn't going to make me quit though. I kept a good pace and I rode up the steep hill climb without issue and then we reached the rough section on the second half of the course. I rode into it pretty fast and the poor guy behind me had no idea and I heard him swearing as he hit the ruts and it made me chuckle a little, but he would get the last laugh, we hit a wider-smoother section and he sailed by me like I was standing still!

 

     The next two laps I just tried holding a steady pace and not lose to much ground or wreck in the tight turns. I was able to ride the hill for those two laps as well. Going into the third lap I could feel someone lurking behind me, and sure enough, here comes a junior rider around me, ouch. I stuck to my plan of corner good and lay down the speed when I could. On this lap, I hit the hill climb and made it almost to the top before having to hop off and running the rest of the way up and that's when I realized I would be running up from now on. Now we're closing in on lap #4, and I've started lapping some folks and taking back ground on my junior racer. I finished lap#4 and finally get the bell lap, and I'm 43minutes into this race and looking forward to finishing this race because the course is taking its toll on my back, every time I go through rutted area my back is aching something fierce!

 

     Last Lap! I set my mind on going all in and trying to bring back my junior rider before the finish. I'm getting a glimpse of him in some of the sharp turn areas, I run up the hill for one last time and I can tell I'm making ground! I come down the hill and head toward the pit area and I'm putting the hammer down and being a little less careful in the turns. A few more technical areas and I pass my junior friend with about a quarter of a lap left and finish with no one in my rearview.

 

     Total race time for me was 55mins! That's how long the pros race for! The good news is, I didn't finish last and I averaged .5mph faster than last year and raced 20mins longer. Boom! See you all in a week!