Yup, another hot day for SoCalCross. It was 98° F and another day of just trying to survive. I think the SoCal Prestige series needs a new rule: no races more than five miles from the ocean until November. The coolest day of racing so far this season was in the mid-80's. I jealously look at slide shows from other parts of the country - like this one from my old stomping grounds in Spokane - and think about how much I miss knee-warmers, embrocation, cold rain, and slimy turns in races.
We had a non-eventful drive up to the venue and set up Camp Celo as usual. After getting ready, I headed out for a pre-ride of the course. Regarding the course, let me just say this: I hate gophers. I'm pretty Buddhist when it comes to respecting other life forms. The only critters that don't get equal treatment are ants, termites, and poisonous spiders on my property. I've even been know to relocate lost funnel-web spiders who have wandered into the house back to a more appropriate (i.e. exterior) habitat. After this weekend, however, gophers are coming close to making my enemies list. These rodent excavators seem to target SoCalCross venues to the despair of the racers. Hot is bad enough. Hot and bumpy is just plain awful. Other than that, the course was okay: a triple helping of caution tape spaghetti, lots of cool berms for off-camber and side-slope action, a few over-watered spots that turned into rutted mud, a short flight of stairs, and a set of barriers.
Over the previous week, I'd been thinking about my lack of aggressiveness in the early parts of races and wondering if that was hurting my placings. Thus, I concluded, it was time to conduct an experiment: this week I was going to revert to my usual tactic from last year in which I go hard from the gun, blow up, then try to recover as I settle into the groove of the race. For the most part, this approach worked well last season. Keeping to the plan, I made sure I got an unclaimed spot in the front row. When the whistle blew, I sprinted whole-heatedly for the hole-shot. As I crossed the finish line (about 150 m past the start line) I heard the announcer call that James from PAA had the hole-shot. His statement was premature - I was the first onto the grass and into the first turn. The first section of the course was so serpentine I kept my lead spot for 1/4 lap without much effort. This was mainly because there was to place to pass. Soon enough riders started to slip by and I eventually and settled into ~12-14th place. With ~2 laps to go and after picking up a few spots, I began to fade and was passed by Sean Fenner from Velocity. I couldn't keep up with him which was a pity since he picked off several more riders after passing me. I ended up in 12th. Not bad - not great.
Dino was up next for the Masters Women's race. While she was racing I struggled with whether or not I should do the Singlespeed A race. I eventually succumbed to internal peer pressure (the voices in my head?) and decided to do the race. When Dino finished she was completely spent so I recruited fantabulous Celo teammate Isa to help get O & S over to the kids race. I was having a great time watching the two of them attack a pretty difficult kids course (including a hill and full size barriers) but before it was over, they started staging the Elite Men and Singlespeed A's. I've done enough singlespeed races that am I now getting a call-up based on my attendance record. When the whistle blew, I made a half-hearted attempt at the hole shot then moved immediately into survival mode. One mistake that I made in preparing for this race was thinking that the playfields shown on the course map would translate to flat topography for the race. As mentioned above, the course was far from flat which meant that my 42x18 gearing was way too tall - especially for use in a second race. It didn't impact my placing but certainly added to the suffering. I continually consoled myself by thinking, "What an awesome power workout I'm getting." Otherwise, there's not much to report about the race. I ended up in 8th place (from 10 starters) and a lap down on the top singlespeed guys.
Up next, a new venue in the NE part of the San Fernando valley. The forecast calls for - yup, you guessed it - hot and dry conditions.
Dino was up next for the Masters Women's race. While she was racing I struggled with whether or not I should do the Singlespeed A race. I eventually succumbed to internal peer pressure (the voices in my head?) and decided to do the race. When Dino finished she was completely spent so I recruited fantabulous Celo teammate Isa to help get O & S over to the kids race. I was having a great time watching the two of them attack a pretty difficult kids course (including a hill and full size barriers) but before it was over, they started staging the Elite Men and Singlespeed A's. I've done enough singlespeed races that am I now getting a call-up based on my attendance record. When the whistle blew, I made a half-hearted attempt at the hole shot then moved immediately into survival mode. One mistake that I made in preparing for this race was thinking that the playfields shown on the course map would translate to flat topography for the race. As mentioned above, the course was far from flat which meant that my 42x18 gearing was way too tall - especially for use in a second race. It didn't impact my placing but certainly added to the suffering. I continually consoled myself by thinking, "What an awesome power workout I'm getting." Otherwise, there's not much to report about the race. I ended up in 8th place (from 10 starters) and a lap down on the top singlespeed guys.
Up next, a new venue in the NE part of the San Fernando valley. The forecast calls for - yup, you guessed it - hot and dry conditions.
0 comments:
Post a Comment