Backyard Cross Race Report

That was an education. I went into Saturday’s cross race with no expectations other than to experience my first race and see what this trend was all about. 45 minutes later I had a good idea of what it was all about: exhaustion.

I’ve been in tough races before, but those tended to be due to a lack of fitness. Here, the course conditions are what killed me. As I mentioned in the previous post, rain had made an appearance the night before the race. As expected, there was mud. And it was horrendous. But first let’s set the stage.

The race is part of the Indiana Cyclocross Cup and was held in Bargersville as a undeveloped housing division save one home, thus reuslting in the name 'Backyard Cross.'Since I’m not going to buy a cross bike without doing a few races I drafted my 29er for the dubious honor of carrying me through the first race. I removed the bottle cages (since I read an article online that said you should do that for style purposes and it apparently makes the bike easier to shoulder) and my precious bar ends. I also got a pair of Kenda Kross Supremes (700x35) to replace my 2.1 inch tires. The Kendas seem like a happy medium between a small and skinny cross tire and a mountain tire. They may even work for the Gravel Grovel in November.

Anyway, the Cat 4 (or “beginner”) group lined up at a little past 2 pm. I was called up (based upon preregistration) to a position somewhere in the middle of a roughly 60 strong field (total of three mountain bikes). The initial start was uneventful as we rolled out down a stretch of asphalt roadway. The road ended after a few hundred feet and we entered the dirt which led to a wide sweeping left hand turn which was a muddy mess having already been chewed to pieces by the previous waves.



The start! From asphalt into the slop.

Another blog I read referred to the mud onn the course as peanut butter, an extremely accurate description. I would go further and say it was like chunky peanut butter….mixed with a healthy dose of grass. The pace plummeted immediately as riders tried to negotiate the mud while trying to find some sort of line which would provide traction. The turn led to a low, fairly long incline which was also pure mud. I tried to work my way on the right side of the incline but the rider in front of me lost momentum and dismounted to run it. At this point it seemed this was the faster route so I joined him and several others in running struggling to the top. At the top I remounted and entered a twisting and turning section that led into two barriers. I had been practicing for this and nailed the dismount, the crossing, and sort of nailed the remount.

This led to a long field section which went past several team tents and more squishy grassy peanut butter mud. This was a terrible energy drain. The frustrating thing was that if the course had been dry, or even tacky, I would have been able to charge full speed and rail into the corners. Not going to happen in that mud. Following the field we entered the most mountain bike like section of the course with a fun downhill followed by a single track like path, another descent, a quick up and down and then back to the grassy muddy climbing.

Charging over a rather mud-less hill. Missed the bar ends in this race.

In this section we hit a natural barrier where the course was routed over a large tree followed by a hard left. The tree was too tall to jump (might have been possible had I not been so beat) so I ran across and got restarted. From here the course continued to several back and forth sections along the side of a small pond. This was mostly off camber and muddy riding with  very muddy, slow corners. The course then hopped back on the asphalt for the run to the star/finish line.

I felt like a kept my position well during the race. I was passed by several people but I also passed several riders. The remaining laps went about the same as the first. On the second lap I found a good line and was able to ride up long incline at the beginning of the course. I was also able to ride up several other short hills that others were walking/running although they were almost going as fast as I was.

Overall I had no crashes and I made it over all the barriers with no issues. I finished 22^nd out of 33 in the Cat 4 wave, while I finished 44 out of 63 overall. Not the greatest performance, but since it was my first race it was certainly acceptable. The opening intensity of the race was no surprise as I suspected it would be similar to a cross country start. However, the overall intensity and effort needed to not only turn over the pedals in the mud, but to also wrestle with steering was surprising and terribly fatiguing. The course was such that if not for the mud I could have set into a steady pace. This just wasn’t possible for me. I had fun, but would have had more sans mud. Also, the terrible advice regarding no water bottle holder was ridiculous. There were plenty of opportunities to take a quick drink even in a 45 minute race and it would have helped to have a sip or two of water or Gatorade. I’m already racing cross with a mountain bike. Why should I worry about style by removing my bottle cages?

I will do other cross races because I think they are great for race experience and race tactics. I can see the race skills from cross translating into cross country racing.  However, I think if there is rain in the days leading up to the race I may bow out and opt for a road ride instead.  There is a race this weekend in Martinsville, Indiana just south of Indy. However, the forecast currently shows rain the day before and the day of. I may have to sit this one out and hit the road to find some hills instead.