Concrete Crater 'Cross

I have a different attitude about racing when it comes to 'cross. I know that it is just going to be fun trying to get around that course as fast as possible, but I still have enough of a competitive side that I want to get a good finish result. But that said, I've never had a bad cross race no matter how I finished.

Today I was going to try the "B" race for the first time, and I woke up to the sound of pouring rain. I expected the conditions to certainly be different then the dry, dusty, and dead grass we had yesterday. I really thought it would be worse then it actually turned out to be, the rain stopped, and the dry ground must have thirstily sucked up most of the rain, because there was only one muddy section on the entire course.

The fields today were much smaller then Nittany Lion yesterday, and I decided to stage towards the rear because I didn't want to get in the way of faster riders. I had it in my head that the "B" race would be faster by several magnitudes of order, while the start was quick, riding in the middle of the Bs wasn't much different then riding near the front of the Cs. I moved up slowly, I could see Greg and Chris towards the front, they looked like they were in good condition. Dave and David were cheering from the sidelines, and I think the encouragement helped with some extra motivation to keep trying to move up. I got up to Chris and he gave me a clean line to pass, and eventually I was sitting behind Joe, who I think was 3rd at that point. I was still feeling pretty good, but there were still 20 minutes of racing left, so I decided to just sit there for a while and stay smooth. We came around the sharp right hand turn with the uphill and I felt my rear tire slide out with a loud "BBRRRRPPPPP!!" I could keep riding it, but it felt very squishy and loose on the turns. On my next pass by David, I saw him standing there with Chris, and called out for them to grab a pump and take it to the pits. I thought I could give it a few shots of air, my main worry was that it might totally roll off at this point. I came around to the pits, and Chris was there with complete spare bike and pump, unfortunately I was riding SPD pedals, so they wouldn't work with his bike. As a spontaneous decision, I decided to try and just take his rear wheel, but my clumsy mid-race wheel change was pretty slow, although at least I could continue on with a tire I could trust. Plus, it was good to try a different tire, it really felt like his Mud2 was getting much better traction then my slightly worn Vittoria XGs. I tried to keep racing, but it was hard to get back into it mentally after dropping so far back. I worked my way up a few spots before the finishing lap. No idea where I ended up, but still a fun race.

Cross is finally here...

(Just pulled off the rear tire and and the sealant was totally dried up. It had been sitting in there for several hot summer months since May.)

Nittany Lion

I've been looking forward to this race for a while, it's felt like cyclocross season for a while now, and I knew it would be fun to get back to those races again.



I lined up in the C race with Greg, Ron, Steve, Jeremy and Roland, and over 120 other racers. The field was huge and the start was very crowded. Without a call up, I sat about 1/4 back in the field. Right off the start, barely 50 meters into the race in the straight section was the first wreck, I managed to get around it, but there were quite a few people tangled up in it. Then on one of the tight twists around the trees, another racer went down and several others as well. It was tough trying to move up and navigate the course while the entire field was still so bunched up.



It didn't take long, by the end of the first lap, things were strung out and I could start passing people in small groups on the straight sections. My bike handling was greatly improved since last year, I could turn faster, get quicker lines, and the difference over the barriers was like night and day.

Another lap and I got to the front of the main field, in front of me was a large gap and maybe a dozen or so riders off in the distance. I could see Greg sitting in third wheel, he looked like he was riding very well. With a clean line through the course, I could make good time and managed to catch up with the leaders, the continual cheers from the squad certainly helped, I think I heard David 4-5 times each lap! One by one I moved up until I was in 6th place. I had a difficult time getting past the next rider, I'd get a clear shot through a turn, but he'd match my acceleration, and I wasn't able to get past cleanly. Finally we came to the barriers and I got past him with some good foot speed and a fast clip in. The little details really make a difference here. By then I had less then 1/2 a lap to try and catch the next guy. I came around the rocks at the end and felt like I had a lot of sprint left, I opened up and came within a second of passing him, but I'm happy with 5th place.

Greg had an excellent race and finished strong with 2nd place.



Thanks to Danica and David for the photos.

Let's do it again tomorrow.

Marten