Smile! Another Cyclocross Race Report

 

Another weekend, another cyclocross race.  This week was the ICX race at the Goldman Camp just south of Zionsville. Saturday was frigid with temps below freezing and windy.  A parking snafu had me parking in a small lot on the opposite side of the camp from the start line. Following registration I went and moved my car, but ended up having a very short warm up as a result.  At the start line snow began to fall, marking the first time I have raced in the snow, although it was very short lived. Anyway, the race started and I quickly found myself at the back of the Cat 4 pack. Eh. No big deal. As I have mentioned in past race reports, I have found that I get faster as the race goes on.

Luckily mud was at a minimum due to the cold temperatures. Corners were not outright muddy, but slick, and still required care. I think if I could work on getting around tight muddy corners faster my results would be much better. I’m just not very fast on the tight corners. Early in this course was a terribly tight section that looked a bit like this:

Complete momentum killer for me. In retrospect, I think dismounting and running through this section would have been faster. 

One first for this race was a sand pit. Yep, I’d never been through a sand pit. Six laps and I only managed to ride it once, although the guy next to me running it still made it out just before me. After that I ran it each time, which resulted in some entertaining photos:

 

 

 

Following the sand was a nice gravel uphill, followed by a downhill which ended in a run up a wooden stairway, which then required an uphill remount, some more tight sections, with slick corners, a few more up and down hills, and then a streak back to the start finish line.

I went back and forth with several riders. Passed a few on the uphills, they repassed me in the tight sections, etc. I went back and forth with one guy (in red on the right with me in the background) whose family was seemingly all over the course cheering him on several times, before finally gapping him on the second to last lap.

A 40+ Nebo rider caught me at one point and I pushed to stay on his wheel. However, in a tight turn some loose course tape got tangled with his front disc brake and actually brought him down. He made a push to catch me, but I was riding hard on the last lap (my fastest) and held him off. 

There was one rider who I had my sights on from the middle of the race. I saw him well ahead of me and knew he was in my group. I saw that I was slowly gaining, and in fact caught him on the gravel climb and was on his heels on the stair way run up. We both remounted on our bikes at the same time, but he got in a better initial pedal stroke and got a short lead going into a tight section, where he was much faster. I pushed hard and got within a few bike lengths, but the ending straight away was too short and I just missed him, finishing one second behind him. Another 100 feet was all I needed.

Again, I’m generally happy with my race. I would have liked to have been higher in my age group (I won’t mention my category finish) although overall I was 16^th out of 34, so my streak of overall middle of the pack finishes continue.

The next, and last, race in the series is in two weeks. Sometime before then, but after the Gravel Grovel, I am going to find a muddy patch of ground and do repeated figure 8’s over and over again.

 

Thanks to Planet Adventure for the photos.  

Dueling Race Reports And The Impending Challenge That Is The Gravel Grovel

Yeah, getting behind on the posts again. Work picks up this time of year, so things get a little nuts.  The main thing right now? Less two weeks until the Gravel Grovel.  Sort of snuck up on me here (where did November go?), but I have been doing some longer training rides in preparation.  My overall fitness is better than last year but my climbing needs work. Especially since there is a route change this year which involves some new, and seriously nasty climbs. Also, there is more singletrack and the Forest Service was nice enough to dump tons upon tons of new gravel all around the forest roads. Nothing like fighting your way up a steep climb in 4 inch deep gravel. I’m planning on one final training ride this Sunday, and, appropriately enough, the high temperature for that day is going to be 26 degrees. I think I have some toe warmers around here someplace....

Anyway, I’m also a bit behind on race reports. So here goes some catch up!

I did the Indiana Cyclocross series race at Bradford Woods in Martinsville three weeks ago. Did not place well, and had a minor crash as I was transitioning onto a gravel road. Other highlights include getting a hand up twizzler stuck in my drive train after it fell out of my mouth. It was a beautiful (and dry) day, but the results weren’t there. I’m still looking for a good set of fast tires. The Vee Rubber X-C-X’s I got are great on dry ground, but as soon as there is a little mud, especially in corners, all hell breaks loose. So I ordered some Maxxis Mud Wrestlers to try.  We’ll see how these work out. In the meantime, here are a few pics from the race:

To your left, the offending Twizzler, prior to it taking up residence in my drive train.

 

To your right, a short downhill. If you zoom in on the photo you can see the Twizzler dangling below the bottom bracket.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The unfortunate thing is that the ICX races seem to be in an attendance decline. They announced at the start of the race that they needed everyone to promote the race to their friends since they needed at least 100 people to sign up for the next race in Richmond.  These problems are understandable, especially when the monster that is the Ohio Valley Cyclocross Series operates in the same neighborhood.  However, I think there could be better promotion on the part of the ICX, as well as by the race sponsors. 

 It will be too bad if the series is unable to continue. While I enjoy CX races, I’m not so enthralled that I will drive all over Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky to do races each weekend with the OVCX. The ICX races are more centrally located for me and limits the travel time.

That being said, this past weekend was the ICX race in Richmond. My original plan was to skip this race since it is a bit of a drive.  However, this past Sunday was my wife’s birthday and we planned to spend Saturday night and Sunday in Cincinnati. And Richmond is sort of on the way to Cincy.  So things worked out.  The course was actually very fun, and consisted of 2/3 open field and the remaining third in some woods. Also, the course was hilly and had some longer climbing sections, at least when compared to other cross races I have done.  There was one very short and steep climb which looked ride-able but most were running it. I was able to ride it on the third lap, although I’m not sure that was the faster choice.

 

Overall, the race went better than I expected. First two and a half laps were redlining and wheezy, and then half way through the third lap, things got better. I started to gap riders behind me and gain on several riders ahead. My breathing and heart rate also got under control. I’ve noticed this happen before and I’m not sure if it my body settling into a groove, or whether I’m maintaining my usual speed and everyone else is starting to become more fatigued .

Am I crossing a barrier, dancing, or marching?

Either way, I felt pretty good about this race and the 13/28 overall finish, although the lack of mud also helped. Mud and I just don’t play well together. Two more ICX races this year, the next being the state championship on Saturday. Rain is in the forecast for Friday so the aforementioned Mud Wrestlers are about to get a baptism by fire.