St. Vincent Cyclocross (Uncertainties Confirmed)

Intro

I trained every day of the week leading up to this first Cyclocross race of the season. But it was definitely too little too late. I haven't done any bike racing all year, opting instead to do more running. I became enamored of the Pose running technique and have spent most of the summer running and racing in 5k races. I have still been riding the bike weekly but not nearly as much as in the past couple of years. There's just nothing like being in a race where the adrenalin is flowing and the heart rate gets pegged a few times. But I have been extending my run times to 40 minute sessions and also throwing in an occasional Tabata workout where I do very high intensity. Last week I did several CX bike workouts. A 2x20 at the local church yard and some technical work on dismounting and mounting with high intensity. I had some hope that I would have a degree of fitness but I wasn't overly optimistic that I could challenge the guys who I was racing with in the past.

The Course

Then there was another downward section and a 90 degree left. You could carry a lot of speed here and it was tricky trying to break enough and still carry enough speed around the turn and then up the little rise to the next turn. This is the type of section that you can improve on as you gradually increase your entry speed and test the ground and your line with respect to getting around the turn without loosing it.

About a third of the course was on asphalt and the hardest part in terms of effort was the asphalt hill which lead to the top portion of the course. This hill was may 60 yard long and in the range of 8 to 9 percent grade. At the end of the pavement, there was a curb to go over and then more incline through a patch of walnut infested grass. Most of the upper section of the course was bumpy and looked to be faster than it actually was due to the bumpiness.

Then there was a downhill section which lead back on to the pavement. This downhill section was great fun. You could really get some good speed going. It got bumpier as the race went on but I was still able to take it pretty fast. It had a slight left right curve as it bottomed out and then inclined up and over the curb, back on to the pavement. There were a couple of times during the race when I thought I might loose it and go outside the ribbon marking the course but I never did. This is one of those sections that is thrilling and feels very fast as you ride it on the bike but looking at other racers go through the section just doesn't convey the speed that you feel when you are doing it.

The Race

But surprisingly, I had caught up to Rich by the 2nd lap and I was also riding with Rudy so I was not too discouraged and I had not put in any kind of hard effort yet. Gradually I got closer to Rich, again, riding moderately hard. I begin to think of just staying with Rich. I know he is a tractor like rider who will burn you out. I am the opposite, I thrive on a doing a couple of ultra fast ultra hard laps and then resting. Too much fast twitch for good, that's my physiology. But if I could just stay with Rich and keep him in site and then turn it up at around the last few laps, that might make a good race. But no, my adrenaline and that rabbit mentality got the best of me. I reeled off a scorching lap, passing Rich around the tricky right hander, dismounting and mounting over the two barriers and then downhill and onto the uphill pavement. I dug deeper going up the hill and when I got to the top, pretty much exploded and watched everyone pass me back for the rest of the lap.

That was the end of any hope I had of staying with Rich as by the end of another lap, he was way ahead of me and out of site. The rest of the race, I battled with a guy on a mounting bike. We must have passed each other a half dozen times but I finally held on for the last two laps.

Conclusion

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