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Spooky Bikes Cyclocross - CycleCyclocross


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Easthampton, Massachusetts
United States
19F / -7C
Sunny
Total Time = 43m 20s
Overall Rank = 26/30
Age Group = Cat 4 Men
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Arrive about an hour early. Found registration in the high school and schmoozed the custodian (a friend of the race director and member of the host cycling team) to open the locker room. Changing in a heated school is FAR better than in a cold car! Picked out my layering, gave the bike the once over, set my tire pressure and went to the course.
Event warmup:

2 laps to get familiar with lines. I managed to find the better lines through most of the technical sections. The last single track section I never did get right. Got my HR up a couple times, cut my second lap short and went to the start line. Shed my jacket as planned, got a little cold, but the whistle went and off we were.
Bike
  • 43m 20s
  • 12.43 miles
  • 17.21 mile/hr
Comments:

Light snow flurries in the air really set a great mood. I had an OK hole shot and was up with a group of 6. We dropped a couple and we were 4. I tried to draft and work with the other 3. It went pretty well for 2 laps. On lap 4, we were all together and I unclipped on the down/up section to run the hill. Set down my right foot on the frozen ground with slick shoes and went flat on my chest! I knocked my sternum on the frozen ground and lost my breath for a few minutes (a couple of scrapes too, but NBD). I managed to scramble up the hill, get my breathing back, but my pace group was gone. I tried like crazy to catch on and saw them about 200 yards up. The course was full of tight turns, so I never got great sighting of them, but by the end, I knew I could get there. I bridged back, but when I passed, it wasn't my group :-( It was 2 other guys wearing the same color jackets doing a warm up. Oh well, if I hadn't, I would doubt myself. I finished strong and had to sit with my head down to get the blood flow started again. A great race for me.
What would you do differently?:

Not wipe out! Get my tubulars going so I can be even more aggressive in the corners. Install toe spikes on the shoes for better traction.
Post race
Warm down:

Take a short ride back to the car before getting cold. Back to a heated locker room to change for the drive home!

Although my placing is BOP, I didn't get lapped :-)

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Clincher tires and not my racing tubulars. Knocking the wind out during a fall.

Event comments:

Full results at: http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2008/11/23-Spooky-Bikes-Cyclocross.a...




Last updated: 2008-11-26 12:00 AM
Biking
00:43:20 | 12.43 miles | 17.21 mile/hr
Age Group: 26/
Overall: 26/30
Performance: Good
Wind: None
Course: Although quite technical, well suited to my strength of burst power. Mostly very short sections, well split between woods, gravel, pavement and running. A BIG down/up section at about 1/3 of the way through. The course even went through one of the picnic shelters which was fun. Terrain was dry, frozen and fast.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good 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? Yes
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 5

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2008-11-26 8:36 AM

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