Fighting for 50th: IndyCycloplex Cross Race Report

Not much in terms of posting lately due to work being very crazy. Such a level of craziness in fact that last week I rode my bike to work once. Just once. And I didn’t even ride it home. I ended up getting a ride that evening home from work and left the bike in the basement of my office. Fast forward to Saturday afternoon and I find myself on the start line for the Indiana Cyclocross Series race at the Cycloplex at Indianapolis. What could go wrong?

Since my first foray in the CX scene at the Backyard Cross on October , I had this race in my sights, primarily because it is only a 15 minute ride from my house. I could spin over, do the race, and spin back, and be on my couch in no time. Plus, once the weather report solidified and showed clear skies with temps in the upper 50s, there was really no excuse.

Saturday was my wife’s birthday so she was under no obligation to see me struggle through 45 minutes of mediocrity and went for some spa time. My parents did go to the race which was great, since they haven’t had an opportunity to see me race before.

I was called up in the back third and the field and the race started with a roll out down a paved road with left turn into grass. And ouch, the grass sucked. The first part of the course was a bunch of twists and turns out in a wide open field. My speed dropped and I was passed by many. I was struggling to maintain 10 mph when we came to two long sections of mud, already badly rutted from the earlier contests. The pace dropped more and slow motion crashes and tip overs were in abundance. Even getting out of the mud I couldn’t seem to get my speed up, even when I was riding in the worn down trail left by earlier riders. Add to it the over exertion I now associate with the first half lap of cross races and I was having a dandy time.

The end of the field section included a set of two barriers, which caught me by surprise as I had not seen them when I looked over the course earlier. I got over them but upon remounting couldn’t get clipped in immediately and was rear ended by the guy behind me. The course then jumped onto a roadway section which went past the start/finish line and then climbed up a steep bluff. Would have been nice to have my bar ends for that one. At the top of the bluff was a mountain bike like trail which weaved into several extremely off camber areas and very steep turns. Lots of folks were either slipping down the hill in the off camber areas or were taking the steep turns too steeply and crashing through the route markers or going over the handlebars. In this section there was another barrier, right near the Shamrock Cycles tent. This thing was right on a corner at of an uphill section which required a dismount and then a run up the hill. Luckily a photographer was positioned right at that point and got a nice series of photos as I tackled the barrier.

We then went down several wide switchbacks, which resulted in a few more crashes, and then a short and straight downhill into the parking lot and back into the field section. I performed decently through these sections although I was physically beat after just one lap. Just like at the Backyard Cross I decided that this would be my last cross race. However, things did get better. Just not until a few laps later. The second lap was more of the same, as was most of the third. Heading into the fourth lap I got hooked up with two other riders on cross bikes and started riding in rough pace line. Problem was, they were just slightly faster than me and would get a gap in the grassy sections, only to have me catch up in the mud sections and after the barriers.

Entering the last lap found me with these same two riders. The hilly sections were still close, but upon dropping off the hill and back into the field section the front guy gapped me and other rider in the muddy sections. I stuck with the second rider but could tell he wasn’t going to chase. After a long out and back straight away with a sharp turn, I decided to try to catch rider #1. He was a few hundred feet ahead but I figured if I make contact before the asphalt I might have a chance. With that I pulled around rider #2, told him I was going to try to catch #1 and said he was welcomed to hook onto my wheel. The race for 50^th place was on!

Rider  #3 dropped off, but I slowly gained ground on #1. At this point I was exhausted but having a carrot out there helped me to grit my teeth and push harder. Hitting the last tight turn before the barriers I was less than 40 feet behind #1. We hit the barriers and both crossed with no problems. I had a good remount and as I clipped in I heard the distinct “thrip thrip thrip clink” as he shifted into his big ring and a higher gear. I shifted into the big ring and slammed the rear downshift trigger hard to drop several cogs quickly into a harder gear just as we hit the pavement. He started a sprint with me right on his wheel and as soon as we cleared a curb with a lot of gravel I popped around on his left side, pulled even, and pulled ahead as we hit the finish line. Yeah I sprinted for a 50^th place finish. But it was fun and I dug deep to push through to catch and pass rider #1. That is good practice for mountain bike season. 



End of the sprint for 50th. Huzzah.



Overall I finished 50^th out of 75 and 24th out of 33 in the standard Cat 4. I would have liked a bit higher but considering the prior week, I was just fine with those results. It was a beautiful day and perfect conditions and a very enjoyable day. For now cyclocross is just a distraction from post MTB season blues. I could see next year perhaps taking it more seriously although I would still probably limit my races to four or five. The next race is three weeks away and I plan to spend some quality time riding grass laps down my Butler University. To prepare Perhaps this will help in the next race.

 In other news, Saturday is the Gravel Grovel. There has been a change up in the course this year so it should be an interesting ride. The weather report has gone from highs in the 60s, to a high of 50, to a high in the upper 30s. Still, as long as there is no rain, all should be fine. A report will be forthcoming.