Saturday
Elite 20th/39
Sunday
Elite 26th/43
The tale of 2 races.
I played catch-up all last season for missing the opening round of the series last year and garnering the precious points for call-ups. This year I committed to clearing my schedule and making the Green Mountain Cyclo-Cross Weekend at the Catamount Family Center. Unfortunately this meant having to miss one of the Maine high school mtb series races but I had to be selfish here. The goal was to earn at least one top-25 spot and secure a call-up based on points rather than registration for the rest of the season. I left the fam @ their Saturday soccer games and headed due west to Williston, VT.
I arrived in time to get some laps in on the course. I was fairly unimpressed with the length, lack of tech, and the climbing. Unbelievably there were 2 sections where I had to drop down to my small ring in order to get up the steeps. Perhaps this was their version of tech. The course basically wound its way in a rolling grass field. I was concerned.
I got a 2nd row callup thanks to my quick online registration ability. The race got underway and I was immersed by the pack. A couple of guys got tangled up around the 1st turn and pushed their way into me, but everyone stayed upright and we chugged on. I was my conservative-self and just tried to minimize the number of people passing me rather than going Hulk and sticking my bike where it didn’t belong and forcing the issue so early on. Racers started stringing out and I would find myself dangling with 2 or 3 riders trailing a larger group of 6 or so that was being led by Adam Myerson. I thought fans were kidding when they were shouting he was up there. John Burns was there too but I could never close the gap and eventually ended up in no-man’s land behind them. This hurt in the numerous open sections where the wind was a real factor. I ended up rolling in satisfactorily in 20th, exceeding my goal and happy for the outcome.
After a great post-race meal in S. Burlington Burnsy and I settled into our uber-plush Green Mounatin Suite. Unfortunately I didn’t get a good night’s sleep for whatever reason. We woke Sunday to showers and a decidedly wet ground. I was ambivalent about the conditions. This could either help or hurt me. The fact that we were mostly riding on grass really minimized the impact of the weather. I pre-rode the course with my pit bike but didn’t push the limits to test traction. Essentially there was a long open climb then a winding descent. Bike handling was a factor, but not the difference-maker as it wasn't too mudly. It was still mostly about power and being careful to not get caught in the myriad of slippery grooves in the grass.
I lined up 3rd row today which was OK. Problem was, I did my whole lame slow start thing and was passed A LOT as we rode up the climb. I need to man-up from here on in if I want to have decent finishes. As we summited, there was a swooping left hand turn that had a puddle and rocks in the middle which was important to avoid. On the pre-ride I opted for the outside line to stay out of danger and I was on-line in the race. Unfortunately I caught a groove I never saw and was doing a power slide when suddenly the tires hooked up and shot me straight across the middle of the course and into the line of those left behind me. Some poor dude t-boned me and went down. (This entire sequence is well documented on Colin's blog HERE) He must have made contact with my rear brake somehow as there was a dragging sound coming from the rear end. I tried to determine the issue but was losing more and more ground in the race. I had braking power so I wasn’t crippled but the noise couldn’t be good. I was planning to pit but the sound eventually dissipated and I deduced it was only a cable rubbing on the tire. Well, the damage was done and I am pretty sure I was in like 40th at this point. The rest of the race was all about catch-up as I soloed the whole time.
Elite 20th/39
Sunday
Elite 26th/43
The tale of 2 races.
I played catch-up all last season for missing the opening round of the series last year and garnering the precious points for call-ups. This year I committed to clearing my schedule and making the Green Mountain Cyclo-Cross Weekend at the Catamount Family Center. Unfortunately this meant having to miss one of the Maine high school mtb series races but I had to be selfish here. The goal was to earn at least one top-25 spot and secure a call-up based on points rather than registration for the rest of the season. I left the fam @ their Saturday soccer games and headed due west to Williston, VT.
I arrived in time to get some laps in on the course. I was fairly unimpressed with the length, lack of tech, and the climbing. Unbelievably there were 2 sections where I had to drop down to my small ring in order to get up the steeps. Perhaps this was their version of tech. The course basically wound its way in a rolling grass field. I was concerned.
I got a 2nd row callup thanks to my quick online registration ability. The race got underway and I was immersed by the pack. A couple of guys got tangled up around the 1st turn and pushed their way into me, but everyone stayed upright and we chugged on. I was my conservative-self and just tried to minimize the number of people passing me rather than going Hulk and sticking my bike where it didn’t belong and forcing the issue so early on. Racers started stringing out and I would find myself dangling with 2 or 3 riders trailing a larger group of 6 or so that was being led by Adam Myerson. I thought fans were kidding when they were shouting he was up there. John Burns was there too but I could never close the gap and eventually ended up in no-man’s land behind them. This hurt in the numerous open sections where the wind was a real factor. I ended up rolling in satisfactorily in 20th, exceeding my goal and happy for the outcome.
After a great post-race meal in S. Burlington Burnsy and I settled into our uber-plush Green Mounatin Suite. Unfortunately I didn’t get a good night’s sleep for whatever reason. We woke Sunday to showers and a decidedly wet ground. I was ambivalent about the conditions. This could either help or hurt me. The fact that we were mostly riding on grass really minimized the impact of the weather. I pre-rode the course with my pit bike but didn’t push the limits to test traction. Essentially there was a long open climb then a winding descent. Bike handling was a factor, but not the difference-maker as it wasn't too mudly. It was still mostly about power and being careful to not get caught in the myriad of slippery grooves in the grass.
I lined up 3rd row today which was OK. Problem was, I did my whole lame slow start thing and was passed A LOT as we rode up the climb. I need to man-up from here on in if I want to have decent finishes. As we summited, there was a swooping left hand turn that had a puddle and rocks in the middle which was important to avoid. On the pre-ride I opted for the outside line to stay out of danger and I was on-line in the race. Unfortunately I caught a groove I never saw and was doing a power slide when suddenly the tires hooked up and shot me straight across the middle of the course and into the line of those left behind me. Some poor dude t-boned me and went down. (This entire sequence is well documented on Colin's blog HERE) He must have made contact with my rear brake somehow as there was a dragging sound coming from the rear end. I tried to determine the issue but was losing more and more ground in the race. I had braking power so I wasn’t crippled but the noise couldn’t be good. I was planning to pit but the sound eventually dissipated and I deduced it was only a cable rubbing on the tire. Well, the damage was done and I am pretty sure I was in like 40th at this point. The rest of the race was all about catch-up as I soloed the whole time.
My longest chase was behind Rubijono but he eventually was kind enough to let me go. On the last lap I finally made eye contact with a couple of riders ahead including fellow Mainer Tom Gosselin. My motivation just spiked and I dug deep to bridge up to them on the climb. I caught them at the top just as Tom was attacked by the other rider so I followed. He rode the descent pretty well so I wondered where I would get around him. Coming through the start/finish area I passed and outbraked him heading into the barrier corner, a textbook NASCAR move. I created a gap and buried myself through the next open field and held on through the finish. I was hoping against hope I cracked the top-25, relying partly on others DNFing. Turns out I was 26th, meaning I had nothing to show for the effort: no $, no points. I was disappointed to say the least but had only myself to blame for a lame-ass start.
Next weekend I’m cruising down for the Sunday race only in Gloucester. A top-25 there will be difficult to attain given the top level competition. A great place to work on my start though!
