View from the Saddle: CCCX #2

What: Central Coast Cyclocross #2
Where: Fort Ord
Weather: Cloudy 65 degrees
Laps: 4
Time: 40 minutes
Field: 26
Finished: 5th

All photos by Rick Rasmussen. Thanks Rick

Relaxing before the start.

This is the second cross race of the season and my 4th in my short cyclocross career. I was excited about this race because for the first time I had a teammate Duane from Velo Club Monterey racing with me. Our race was the first race of the day which is good when you race at Fort Ord. By the end of the day the sand just gets deeper and deeper.

A few minutes later all 26 of us are off.

Since this was Duane's first cross race I gave him a few tips.
1. Pace yourself
2. Allow yourself two bike lengths from the rider in front of you. If he make a mistake or goes down you can pass him with little or no problems. (advise I did not follow on lap 1)
3. Give it all on the last lap. Don't leave anything on the course.

Duane on the climb (lap 1)

The start as with all cross races was fast. I was able to get into the top ten going into the first set of barriers. Since I crashed at about the same time into the race the week before I was still a little cautious. Once I remounted and started climbing I found myself in a group of 5 with a gap back to 6th place. I finished 6th last week so my only goal was to finish 6th or better. The 5 of us kept the gap on the backside of the course and across the flat pavement. Up and into the single track again we kept the tempo high enough to keep the gap from the other riders. Coming into the third set of barriers I was able to dismount and run across the barriers clean and remount the bike. However, After I clipped into the peddles and looked up the rider in front of me had gone down and I rolled into him and went down in a spectacular slow speed crash. All I wanted to do was not step on or fall on him. I was able to fall off to the side and after I pulled my bike off him and made sure he was ok we resumed racing. At this point the three riders we were with were now long gone and the 6th place rider was right behind us.

Lap 2 of 4. Trying to stretch out my lead from the 6th place rider.

Going into lap 2 with still a bit of adrenalin flowing from the crash the two of us 4th and (me) 5th tried to drop the 6th place rider on the climb. This worked until we hit the paved section on the back side where he was able to get back into striking distance of us. I was able to recover a bit and at this point I was thinking how my teammate Duane was doing. The 6th place rider was able to get on my wheel at the start of lap 3 now it was the three of us racing for a podium finish 5th.

Now on lap 3 of 4 it's a battle for 5th and a chance to medal.

On lap 3 since the top three rider were now well our of reach all I wanted to do was try to recover and watch the two riders in front of me and take advantage of any mistake they might make. As it turns out we were all playing it safe so nobody made any mistakes that would allow one of us to take advantage and get a gap. We traded place a few times then we started the last or bell lap.

Coming into the last barrier section on the last lap. I try to remember what my dad told me about running. Keep your knees high.

Remembering what I told Duane about not leaving anything out on course on the last lap I kicked the heart rate up to 91-93% of max or around 182 to 187 bpm. I knew from training the I could only hold this pace for 8 minutes or so and that each lap was around 10 minutes it was going to be close is I blew up or not. I figured I could recover a little on the downhill and draft on the paved sections so I thought it would be ok.

Now with less than half a lap to go the three of us were still racing for 4th, 5th, and 6th it was time to think about a move. On the last barrier section I came in a little fast but was able to get over the barriers cleanly and remount the bike and clip in on the first try (first time ever). I thought Shit! I'm in 4th place now all I have to do is not make a mistake and I'm on the podium. Coming into the last turn I went too wide and the 5th place rider passed me. I dug deep to keep his wheel and to keep the other rider from passing me. Now with less than 100 meters to go the sprint to the line was on. The two of us finish with the same time but he was able to get a half a wheel on me for 4th and I finished 5th.