jeremyridesbikes

My results and thoughts CrossCrusade 8 PIR

Ok. The official results are in… I took 149th place out of 185 finishers on Sunday’s 35+ Masters C race at PIR.  That is the exact same place I took at Aplenrose a ~month ago.  I find that to be pretty darn funny. 

My official number was 618 and I would be in line-up with the other 8’s for the start of the race.  We got all lined up and I was thinking to myself “hmmmm I am sitting about mid-pack of 200+ riders, could I break a top 100 finish!?”

Sadly.

No.

During the pre-ride of the course I had a colossal brain fart and crossed the finish line before lining up with the other 35+ers.  Why is that bad? You may ask.  The way CC is officiated and scored is via a photo finish techno wizardry that decodes how many times your number goes through the system.  Going through it early monkeys up the system and causes the nice people at CC a major PIA and more work for them.  So they have set up a rule that if you cross the system while not in your race they can beat you down with frozen Salmon patties if necessary to make sure you never do it again.  Lucky for me they were gracious and only made me go back to the end of the pack and wait 1 minute while the rest of the herd went by wondering WTF I did to cause this situation.  It was embarrassing and I will NEVER do that again!

Long story short, I broke a rule and luckily only got a 1 minute penalty.  They could have done worse to me and I appreciate that they didn’t.

So I started a minute behind the actual start whistle, which actually worked in my favor I think.  Near the beginning of the course there was a 80 degree turn that was a dirty slippery grassy run up.  This caused a major bottleneck and by the time I got to it the majority of racers were through it.  So it was clear to just push as hard as I could to start passing people in the next sections.  The next sections were based in peanut butter concrete mud and the best course of action to take was to run since I race on a singlespeed and did not have the gearing to push through it.  This came to bite me in the rear over the course of the race (more on that later).

The main section of the course and by golly the most fun was the techy off road sections.  I LOVED them! The main reason is I am a mountain biker first and love techy rooty muddy sections.  They are so much fun because they are the challenge.  They were also where the crowd was hanging out heckling, yelling, and beer drinking.  Nothing improves your abilities more then having some random guy heckling you. HA!

By the end of the race my sub 20 pound singlespeed had the weight of a mountain bike in mud and a left pedal that would not clip in due to mud build up on the cleat and pedal.  Also by the end of the race I seemed to be riding against and with the same riders which was pretty fun sharing our agony together.

Some how I completed 5 laps and ended up in the bottom third of the group.  Over all it was fun and I really appreciate the course layout and professionalism of the CC team putting this circus on each week.  They really deserve the accolades they get from the industry.  If you ever get a chance to be out here and ride a CC event you will see what I am saying.

Now that my cross season is over I will focus on 2012 and the magic that it may be bringing. Oh and maybe get around to cleaning my bike.

Jeremy

Some notes that didn’t fit in the story above:

• Larson Mimo tires are crap in mud and I really did not feel comfy with the rear wheel all day.
• The WTB tires on the front were AWESOME in the mud. I never had a moment where the front slipped on me which is saying a lot for that course.
• Shimano Clipless pedals suck in the mud. I want my Time ATACs back.
• Cross to me is about me against the course and learning to conquer it section by section. I don’t really care now what place I take.
• Kiddie Cross is a blast to watch.
• I wish there was another set of barriers on the course. One wasn’t enough.
• Bring wet wipes.
• Don’t stick your iPhone in the jersey pocket that has an open GU packet.
• Having a cowbell attached to your bike is awesome. Like having your own cheering section all through the course.