Saturday:
20th/29 Elite
Sunday:
19th/27 Elite
20th/29 Elite
Sunday:
19th/27 Elite
Great shots courtesy of Paul Weiss
Here's a link to cyclingnews.com where I got some face time!
After a busy workweek culminating with the raising of the Kents Hill School boys’ hockey D-II New England championship banner on Friday,
After a busy workweek culminating with the raising of the Kents Hill School boys’ hockey D-II New England championship banner on Friday,
I drove south solo to hit up the final 2 races of the series. Racing this late in the season was a feat never before accomplished save for Nationals a few years back. I hadn’t raced this course before and was eager to check it out. Weather conditions were great for the drive down and were decent albeit chilly for the race.
I made excellent time driving down and had the good fortune of spotting a Panera at the exit to fuel me for the race. The events were held at Goddard Memorial State Park, a multi-purpose space where one could ride a horse, golf, hike, or swim in the ocean. Today we were riding bikes. Sunday, people were XC skiing! The layout was a bit of a pain in terms of race headquarters and the start/finish line were a hike from parking. But it was well worth the trip. I met up with Burns who also arrived in plenty of time today and we did some course recon. It proved a fast one! There were extensive long straightaways on grass and pavement with wide sweeping turns leaving no advantage to a good bike handler. There were also 2 long sand ride/runs. These sections were my absolute undoing as I lost time on them every lap. Overall it was a fairly fun ride around, I just hoped I had the legs to stay in the race. My dad made it just after the start and was a big help telling me my position each lap.
I got my first official call-up and was 3rd row of 8. Not too shabby! The start was quick and I had a great line in the turns and was easily in the top 15 when we hit the sand. That’s where I started getting passed!
So, back to top-20 and at the tail end of a fast moving group of 5-8 that was being led by Burnsy. Unfortunately, I couldn’t muster the strength to grab the last wheel when we hit pavement and had no help of shelter from the wind. I would close on every turn, but the accelerations were always just a bit too much for me to duplicate. When we hit the sand climb on the second lap, I was actually wheezing which was a first for me. I dropped back again and started to re-evaluate my plan for the rest of the race. The rest of the 2nd lap was like the first, I just hung off the back of the group. With no immediate pressure from behind, I decided to settle into my tempo, recover, and see if I could turn the screws again late and reel some guys in. I rode the course fairly well, having only 1 bobble on a sand dismount. 
Sure enough, guys were starting to show signs of wear and were coming back to me. I made a few passes late and even began bridging up to Burns. However, he and a Spooky guy I was just behind had some extra fuel left in their tank and they were never a possibility to catch. I was happy to take the 20th spot given the course layout. The best news was that getting lapped was not a worry at all.
That night I made the short drive (everything seems close coming from Maine!) to the Cape to spend the night at my mom’s where I refueled and suffered through a cold bath to speed leg recovery. After some chores for my mom on Sunday morning, I made the drive back to RI, this time in snow! Finally, true CX conditions fitting for the final race of the year! Fortunately, the bulk of the precipitation had already fallen and the skies were pretty bright leaving a couple of inches or so of the white stuff. Temps were also tolerable in the 30’s. I somewhat reluctantly kitted up and Burnsy and I hit the course to scope it out. It was dramatically different from the day before. Gone were the long road and grass open sections. In their place were twists and turns everywhere, I was psyched! The ground was also solid, no major mud or harsh ruts, just some white stuff around the edges. It was on! The race start pretty much mimicked the previous day’s.
I had good position, got passed in the sand, and was desperately trying to cling to the tail end of a group. 
Today, I thought my bike handling would compensate for a lack of power and vault me higher up. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to overtake the strong riders ahead. Again, I reeled a couple guys late in the race to sneak into the top-20. A mid-race snow shower made for extra fun!
I think I’ve learned the bottom 25 guys are pretty easy to pass, but the top-25 are tough and you fight tooth and nail for every spot from there on. Matt O’Keefe was also dead-on with his statement that your position after 2 laps is pretty much where you’re going to end up, give or take a spot or 2.
In the end, I fully enjoyed CX for the first time and I’m going to miss it. Now it’s time to reintroduce myself to the family, put on some pounds, and work a full day!
Cool things about the races were Adam Snyder consistently riding virtually all the sand sections and he and Mike Patrick were bunny-hopping the barriers as shown here courtesy of retired CX racer but full on CX race creator Thom Parsons.
I made excellent time driving down and had the good fortune of spotting a Panera at the exit to fuel me for the race. The events were held at Goddard Memorial State Park, a multi-purpose space where one could ride a horse, golf, hike, or swim in the ocean. Today we were riding bikes. Sunday, people were XC skiing! The layout was a bit of a pain in terms of race headquarters and the start/finish line were a hike from parking. But it was well worth the trip. I met up with Burns who also arrived in plenty of time today and we did some course recon. It proved a fast one! There were extensive long straightaways on grass and pavement with wide sweeping turns leaving no advantage to a good bike handler. There were also 2 long sand ride/runs. These sections were my absolute undoing as I lost time on them every lap. Overall it was a fairly fun ride around, I just hoped I had the legs to stay in the race. My dad made it just after the start and was a big help telling me my position each lap.
I got my first official call-up and was 3rd row of 8. Not too shabby! The start was quick and I had a great line in the turns and was easily in the top 15 when we hit the sand. That’s where I started getting passed!
So, back to top-20 and at the tail end of a fast moving group of 5-8 that was being led by Burnsy. Unfortunately, I couldn’t muster the strength to grab the last wheel when we hit pavement and had no help of shelter from the wind. I would close on every turn, but the accelerations were always just a bit too much for me to duplicate. When we hit the sand climb on the second lap, I was actually wheezing which was a first for me. I dropped back again and started to re-evaluate my plan for the rest of the race. The rest of the 2nd lap was like the first, I just hung off the back of the group. With no immediate pressure from behind, I decided to settle into my tempo, recover, and see if I could turn the screws again late and reel some guys in. I rode the course fairly well, having only 1 bobble on a sand dismount. Sure enough, guys were starting to show signs of wear and were coming back to me. I made a few passes late and even began bridging up to Burns. However, he and a Spooky guy I was just behind had some extra fuel left in their tank and they were never a possibility to catch. I was happy to take the 20th spot given the course layout. The best news was that getting lapped was not a worry at all.That night I made the short drive (everything seems close coming from Maine!) to the Cape to spend the night at my mom’s where I refueled and suffered through a cold bath to speed leg recovery. After some chores for my mom on Sunday morning, I made the drive back to RI, this time in snow! Finally, true CX conditions fitting for the final race of the year! Fortunately, the bulk of the precipitation had already fallen and the skies were pretty bright leaving a couple of inches or so of the white stuff. Temps were also tolerable in the 30’s. I somewhat reluctantly kitted up and Burnsy and I hit the course to scope it out. It was dramatically different from the day before. Gone were the long road and grass open sections. In their place were twists and turns everywhere, I was psyched! The ground was also solid, no major mud or harsh ruts, just some white stuff around the edges. It was on! The race start pretty much mimicked the previous day’s.
I had good position, got passed in the sand, and was desperately trying to cling to the tail end of a group. Today, I thought my bike handling would compensate for a lack of power and vault me higher up. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to overtake the strong riders ahead. Again, I reeled a couple guys late in the race to sneak into the top-20. A mid-race snow shower made for extra fun!I think I’ve learned the bottom 25 guys are pretty easy to pass, but the top-25 are tough and you fight tooth and nail for every spot from there on. Matt O’Keefe was also dead-on with his statement that your position after 2 laps is pretty much where you’re going to end up, give or take a spot or 2.In the end, I fully enjoyed CX for the first time and I’m going to miss it. Now it’s time to reintroduce myself to the family, put on some pounds, and work a full day!
Cool things about the races were Adam Snyder consistently riding virtually all the sand sections and he and Mike Patrick were bunny-hopping the barriers as shown here courtesy of retired CX racer but full on CX race creator Thom Parsons.
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