Tacchino 'cross race report

Tacchino 'Cross
Leesburg, VA
11/04/07

A little cloudy and 55 degrees. The course was good: one set of barriers on a slight incline with a climb shortly after up to the finish line. An off-camber chicane into a run-up that forced you to dismount on the right side of the bike. A few short descents and off-camber climbs, then a long climb up to the top of the course. Another chicane section with a boulder in the middle. A long and fast descent with a 90 degree turn, then a small rise and another fast descent. After the fast descent, a 90 degree right turn into a super-steep but rideable climb. Another fast descent, a soft 180 degree off-camber turn, and then a slight rise into the off-camber section leading to the barriers. The only thing missing was pavement.

The bike worked damn near perfectly. I only have two complaints (have you come to expect me not to complain?)

First, the start is on a prologue loop. This is usually a good thing. It’s good because it separates the field a little before tight areas or obstacles (see “Spiral of Death”.) However, on this occasion the officials forgot to take down the tape that opens the prologue loop onto the actual course. We get to the connection, and it’s mass confusion because there’s red tape in front of us. Luckily a few of us knew the start loop and we all ducked the tape, and the race was on! It just caused confusion mostly, but I was in a prime position off the start- the confusion allowed some guys who were behind to make up some ground, and starting the lap, we were all back together- exactly what the prologue loop is designed to prevent.

Second, my legs were just dead on the first few laps. The climb to the finish line was brutal on the first lap. I don’t have a good excuse. Maybe my warmup wasn’t good enough. I have no reasonable explanation. Luckily, I started feeling better a few laps in. But it was too late- I wasn’t going to catch the main group. I got passed by a couple of guys, and couldn’t catch the two guys working together in front of me. I put in one massive effort to catch a guy that had been dangling in front of me for a few laps, but it just seemed like his efforts were well-balanced throughout the course, whereas I had to spend some time recovering. He kept getting a little further away just after I’d make up some ground. I did manage to catch a few guys between the middle and end of the race.

Overall, this race was a success. I got 12th, which was better than the two 21st finishes I had early in the season against the same group of guys. I felt much better late in the race than I probably should have, meaning I should have been able to go a little harder in the beginning, maybe staying with the lead group a little longer.