Urban Cross at IX

Nov 12, 2006

The course was hard. It would have been hard if it was dry, but what made it really bad was the MUD. Saturday night it rained pretty consistently, and made the course surfaces consist of Soup, Peanut Butter, and Play-Doh. Then there was the gravel, and leaves which of course came mostly after the Peanut Butter and Soup. The 45 degree weather wasn't really that bad.

Race started well- I was in the lead going into the first turns and first set of barriers, and up until the first run-up. I was still in good position on the 2nd and 3rd laps, but losing about 1 position a lap as I started to blow up. I'm not sure if pushing a 35 pound 'cross bike was causing me to blow up, or if it was the course, or if it was the fact that my wheels, tires, brakes, cranks, and pedals were so caked with mud, pine needles, grass, leaves, and gravel that carrying it wasn't an option due to the weight, and pushing it was very difficult due to the extra resistance of the aforementioned hangers-on. Pedalling it was hard enough. Did I mention I had virtually no traction?

Fast forward to 5 laps in out of 7. Bike getting heavier. Barriers getting harder. Run-ups (of which there are about 5 due to the mud) getting damn near impossible. But I trudged through them knowing I only had 2 laps to go. One of the climbs was paved, and steep. It came after a muddy descent that if you didn't pedal down you weren't going to get to the bottom. I had the bike in the lowest gear (36-26 in my case), and started cranking up the paved climb, and the bike suddenly stopped. I hopped off to find my rear derailleur 1) bent all to hell in my spokes and 2) split in half. By this I mean the inside part of the cage was wrapped around one spoke, and the outside part of the cage, along with the chain, pulley, and the pulley bolt wrapped around another spoke. I haven't yet seen the threads on the bolt, but it appears I may have ripped the two apart. It's also possible that the added friction on the pulley could have unthreaded the bolt.

So, while running in about 8th place, I had to DNF with a lap and a half to go.

Chimborazo 'cross

Oct 29th, 2006

The top section would be key- there was a 20mph headwind across the field that makes up the first half of the lap, and even on the only downhill the course offers. I went out hard, and made up a few spots early to take up about 8th. After the main grass section, we crossed a road and charged onto a gravel sidewalk. This is where my race effectively got harder- the guy in front of me washed out in the gravel (exactly like Poolesville.) I rode into his right thigh and flipped over the bars in a spectacular fashion. Thus, I started the race effectively in second-to-last (the guy I ran over being behind me).

I made up a little ground in the early going, passing a few guys in the top section, and making up time on the downhill. I kept catching the same group of guys, only to have them power away on the paved climb back to the top. I stayed within sight of them for the rest of the race, and even caught them a few more times, but I just couldn't stay with them long enough to make an attack.

I paid for the early effort later in the race when I was unable to climb anything with efficiency. I did manage to power up the final climb on the last lap to make up one spot, however. I think it was easier to hammer up that climb than it was to try to spin it out, but unfortunately I found that out too late.

I'm not sure where I finished, but I know I wasn't lanterne rouge (last place), and I know I didn't get into the top 10.