This weekend I did the double in preparation for next weekend in Astoria. Need to see if I could survive and recover a race on Saturday and one on Sunday. Well, I think I did reasonable.
Psycho Cross
Saturday I went down to Eugene for the Psycho Cross since I was in Corvallis visiting my parents with Luke. This is a "low key" event in contrast to the mob scene that happens at the Crusade. There was only 1 person in the Master C category last race, so I decided to sign up for the C category for a "bigger" field - there turned out to be 10 of us.
Fun course with a mix of singletrack, gravel roads, sandy run up, and farm fields. There was a 5" metal barrier before the start/finish line. The intent is to bunny hop it to clear it. I caught my back tire on a preride lap and flat. 20 minutes prior to the race. Put a tube in the tubeless tires since the tire was torn. Disaster overcome.
Well, the single track slowed me down as normal since my technical riding skills have been lacking this year (didn't do any mountain biking this summer). So, I'd make good progress on the flats and get caught in the single track. Probably didn't help that I dropped a chain, crashed once, and got stung by a bee in that section. Oh well, that's the fun of cross. I had a fun "battle" with Devin as we did the "slinky" the entire race (he was much faster in the technical sections and I'd make progress on the non-technical sections) - just got him at the end. I ended up 5th place in the C class.
Cross Crusade
I did a bunch of driving on Sunday since we were staying in Corvallis and the race was in Rainer Oregon. I raced it last year and knew it was my kind of course since it wasn't very technical. Got there early to do a few laps and didn't see any big surprises. There are some long power sections, a fast downhill, some wide trails in the woods, a big uphill gravel road to the finish. Plenty of spots to pass other riders.
The big change this week was the line up process. It's been crazy the last couple races. People were lining up 40 minutes early since there are 150 racers and everyone wants a good spot. The Crusaders came up with a good plan for call-ups. Guys with series points first, then call up by th e last digit of your bib number (randomly selected for the day). The guys that are last call up all get a free six pack (how cool is that).
I was the 5th group to get called up, so about mid pack and ~50 riders ahead of me. My goal of the race was to 1) not fall more than 5 times, 2) finish top 18 to get some series points. I probably passed 30 people the first lap and picked off a few more as we went.
Good news - I didn't crash at all. I finished 11th place.
Good photos from the race at: pdxcross
This photo is from early in the race and I look fast.....
Psycho Cross
Saturday I went down to Eugene for the Psycho Cross since I was in Corvallis visiting my parents with Luke. This is a "low key" event in contrast to the mob scene that happens at the Crusade. There was only 1 person in the Master C category last race, so I decided to sign up for the C category for a "bigger" field - there turned out to be 10 of us.
Fun course with a mix of singletrack, gravel roads, sandy run up, and farm fields. There was a 5" metal barrier before the start/finish line. The intent is to bunny hop it to clear it. I caught my back tire on a preride lap and flat. 20 minutes prior to the race. Put a tube in the tubeless tires since the tire was torn. Disaster overcome.
Well, the single track slowed me down as normal since my technical riding skills have been lacking this year (didn't do any mountain biking this summer). So, I'd make good progress on the flats and get caught in the single track. Probably didn't help that I dropped a chain, crashed once, and got stung by a bee in that section. Oh well, that's the fun of cross. I had a fun "battle" with Devin as we did the "slinky" the entire race (he was much faster in the technical sections and I'd make progress on the non-technical sections) - just got him at the end. I ended up 5th place in the C class.
Cross Crusade
I did a bunch of driving on Sunday since we were staying in Corvallis and the race was in Rainer Oregon. I raced it last year and knew it was my kind of course since it wasn't very technical. Got there early to do a few laps and didn't see any big surprises. There are some long power sections, a fast downhill, some wide trails in the woods, a big uphill gravel road to the finish. Plenty of spots to pass other riders.
The big change this week was the line up process. It's been crazy the last couple races. People were lining up 40 minutes early since there are 150 racers and everyone wants a good spot. The Crusaders came up with a good plan for call-ups. Guys with series points first, then call up by th e last digit of your bib number (randomly selected for the day). The guys that are last call up all get a free six pack (how cool is that).
I was the 5th group to get called up, so about mid pack and ~50 riders ahead of me. My goal of the race was to 1) not fall more than 5 times, 2) finish top 18 to get some series points. I probably passed 30 people the first lap and picked off a few more as we went.
Good news - I didn't crash at all. I finished 11th place.
Good photos from the race at: pdxcross
This photo is from early in the race and I look fast.....
This photo is from the last lap or so. I doing my best to lift my legs over the barriers and not trip for a yard sale in front of the crowd......
Looking forward to next weekend. Halloween race weekend in Astoria Oregon. We'll be jumping coffins for obstacles and wearing costumes on Sunday. Should be lots of fun.
2 comments:
Sounds like you had a good weekend. You overcame several obsticales and finished well. It was good to see you and Luke on Friday night.
What will your costume be in next week's race?
Sounds like a busy weekend! How do you find time to work, train, eat, have family time, and compete. I am clearly too lazy for competitive cycling. I find it too hard to just ride consistently.
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