PROVIDENCE CYCLOCROSS FESTIVAL - CycleCyclocross


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Providence, Rhode Island
United States
Verge Sport
65F / 18C
Overcast
 		Total Time = 8h 00m
Overall Rank = 63/71
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Well the night before I cleaned the bike. Only to discover a twisted chain, and a bent rear derailleur. Luckily I had enough time to go to Wheelworks before it closed to pick up a new chain. Borrowed a bike workstand from Dreafar's Team Tech and worked on mending the rear derailleur. Got it in working order for the race.

Morning of I had the usual oatlmeal with raisins and brown sugar and a glass of milk with a little protein powder in it.
Event warmup:

One easy lap to pre-ride the course. After which took a few swigs of gatorade during staging.
Bike
  • 00m
  • 0 miles
  • 0.00 mile/hr
Comments:

This was my first CX race and boy was it an eye-opener. It's 30+ minutes of all out hammering. I felt I did well on the dismount and mounting... just need to improve my flow and gracefulness and make it more fluid. It was by far a tougher course than the race Scot and I observed in Gloucester the previous weekend.

Right from the start I felt nervous going into the turns with the pack and let off the gas a little and stayed really wide. I managed to stay on the saddle for all of the hill climbs the first lap (minus the steep hill with the muddy s-curve right before the finish). My body was not able to sustain Zone 5b-c for that long. I started to drag during the second lap, and just about died during the third lap.
What would you do differently?:

Put in more interval and Zone 5 training in. Not take a 2 month taper prior to my first race. Take a few weeks off from tri season, but get back on the saddle and gradually work up to speed and hill work on the bike. Need to practice the fluid cyclecross dismount to keep my rhythm at race pace. In general experience, experience, experience is what I need.
Post race
Warm down:

Gatorade and a peanut butter sandwich.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Experience! It was my first race. Also the lack of high-intensity Zone 5 training.

Event comments:

This was my first race of this kind so I have nothing to really compare it against. Tri's and Trail races have a different feel. CX is really laid back, even more so than XTERRA. Hey they have a "street clothes" category ;-)


Profile Album


Last updated: 2009-10-09 12:00 AM
Biking
00:00:00 | 00 miles | 0.00 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/71
Performance: Below average
Hit Zone 5c and averaged in Zone 5b: max 197 bpm, avg 189 bpm 30 minute race. 1st place was completed in 26:10 (3-laps) I was +10:32 after the first place finisher. 71 starters 64 finishers. I finished!
Wind: None
Course: The course is fairly wide open and on the longer side to accommodate large fields and to prevent too many riders from being lapped. There is ample space for re-setting sections of the track that might get torn up too much, so the following days/races may have fresh tracks. The ground is mostly hard with very good drainage. It would have to be exceptional conditions to slow the racing down appreciably (heavy snow for instance). There will be 4 obstacles: one long run with wood and earth stairs at the bottom, one 5-meter set of stone and cement stars, one set of hurdles on flat ground, and one 10- to 12-second run that may have earth and wood stairs mid-hillside if the conditions are dry. The course is 3.2km long, of which about 1 km is paved in 4 sections. There is also about 200 meters of gravel road. The rest is grassy parkland.
Road: Rough  Cadence:
Turns: Below average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks:
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? No
Plenty of drinks? No
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 4