"Beat the Freak"

I raced the "Beat the Freak" CX race last Saturday. I didn't do so well, but as always, I managed to have fun. I ate right, I dressed right, and I was well hydrated. I definitely ran the right tire pressure - 40 in the back, 37 up front. The course was mainly cold hard grass and pavement, and it was pretty dry. I finished 10 out of 13, but I could have sworn I DFL'd.

The race was held at a high school in Fayetteville, Tennessee. The course started with a nice flat, paved area, dropped into a slight grassy downhill, ran into a sweeping right turn, then up again onto a paved circuit around a football field. The paved portion around the ball field was deceptively steep, and by the fourth lap, was pretty punishing. Then the course ran through some more grass, over a pair of log barriers, then more grass, up a triple set of three or four stairs, more grass, a "death spiral" (seems to be prevalent this season), some grass, a pair of barriers leading to a run-up, and more grass. So, yeah, a lot of grass and pretty fast, overall a pretty good course.

We rode three laps before they told us we had another three to go. I was staying with a couple guys pretty well, and really felt like I was doing well. When we got the 3-laps-to-go count, I decided to ease up for a lap, then I was going to really lay down the law on the last two laps. The plan, of course, was to conserve a little energy, then blow it all in the final two laps. I believed at the time this was a good move, but it turned out to be a big tactical mistake for a couple of reasons, and one I will likely not make again. The officials miscounted the laps-to-go. At the end of the fourth lap, they said two laps to go and I went as hard as I could. I was doing my best to close the gap, but then they called the race after 5 laps. I couldn't have caught him anyway, but I gave it everything I had.

So what did I do wrong? One, I trusted the lap count. Two, I should have kept even pressure on the guy in front of me - I think easing up made it that much harder to get it going again. And when he looked back and saw I was easing up, it gave him the boost he needed to keep going hard.

Next weekend I'm going to Dallas, Georgia for the final race in their series. If luck is on my side, it will be wet and muddy and cold, and the course will be slow and soggy, not grassy and fast. I tend to do better in the slow slogs than the fast courses, so here's hoping. I've been doing a lot of working out off the bike, running, lunges, etc to try and get a little more endurance, we'll see how that pans out!

Bottom Feeder 'Cross!!!

So I've decided to enter the "blogosphere". Must be all the talking heads on the news, or that Twix advertisement where the guy invites the girl up to his place, to, uh, blog.

Anyway, I'm really into all things Cyclocross. Yeah, with a capital 'C'. 'Cross, as they say, is really about overcoming barriers. I hope to learn a few more things, overcome a few more barriers, maybe move up a couple spots over the season, not break anything, and share a little bit of it with you.

I'd also like to try and change up my routine during this, my third, season. I'm racing on tubulars this year, which I think has helped a little. I've been experimenting with tire pressure more, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. I'll be sharing that some, too.

I raced the Tennessee State Championship this weekend. It was pretty much disastrous. But that's okay, I learned some things. I didn't eat my usual breakfast (Cheerios), I ate1/2-hour later than usual, and I cramped on the first lap. I had a cruddy start. But I dressed perfectly for the weather. I bumped up the tire pressure pretty substantially - 40 psi in the back, and 36 in the front, and that felt pretty good for the relatively dry, grassy course. Anything softer and I would have been fighting the tire too much. The course was pretty decent, with a couple good little climbs (one deceptively steep - I ran it once), a run-up with railroad ties, and two sets of barriers. It was a compact little course, the spectators were into it, all while they played that Kenny Loggins song, "Danger Zone". That really got my blood pumpin', Goose.

I rode two easy, crampy laps, then let loose with a pretty full-on effort for the last three. On my fifth, I got lapped and pulled, for the first time in a couple of seasons. That hurt, and I was pretty disappointed about it. But...

That said, I had wicked great fun. I raced the state championship, and gave it everything I had, with a bunch of guys who are way faster than me, not the guys I normally "compete" with. My running is getting better, and I'm smoother over barriers. I've ALMOST eliminated the stutter step. So close.

This weekend we've got two races in Fayetteville, the "Beat the Freak" races. I'd like to place in the top half, at least on one day. I suspect it will be pretty grassy and dry again, and probably low-40's by the time I race. We'll see how it goes.