Woodstock IL
On Sunday I placed 18th. A far cry from last weeks 13th, but I'm falling back on my usual excuse - Its a single speed bike!
This course was nice and hilly, with decent natural technical sections. I think this was also my favorite course of the season. All the bumps and climbs and grass sections were smooth and had a certain rhythm. I was really looking forward to tackling the course on my mountain bike because parts of the course and vibe reminded me of our local mountain bike park, Palos. The weather played a large part in how nice the race played out as well. It had rained during the week but cleared up by Friday. So there was minimal peanut-butter like mud.
Thankfully, no one induced any muddy sections, unlike last week, where the muddy part of the course grew muddier and muddier as the day went on, creating a nearly impassable section by the time the 4B category was on. This week we were virtually racing the same course as the masters.
I was able to get 3 pre ride laps in. The course started with a bumpy "hole shot" that funneled into a tight right hand bend. The turn itself wasn't tight, but on the first lap there was a good traffic jam, giving the call-up riders a great advantage. I didn't even bother to exert any energy until things got technical. Which was a huge mistake.
After the first turn, there was plenty of time to pick up speed and pick a few people off before another descent. I hit a buried rock too hard with my rear wheel and thought I might had pinched my tire, but it held on. My rear tire PSI was dangerously low for my comfort and there were several times I thought I was going to roll my tire. At the bottom of the first descent there was a nice right hand bend again, but because of my tire and the composure of the soil (soft and leafy) approached with caution. On the first lap this downhill was pretty hectic, lots of people trying to avoid the furniture in the mud, when really they should have just gone over it. For some reason I knew by the first half of the lap my race was over, I'd have to really explode to place in the top 12 again, so I pushed and pushed and paced myself with other riders, over taking when I could. Surprisingly climbing seems to really go well with a SS bike, I was able to pick off 2-3 riders, and I'd always come out on top on barriers and remounts.
I think I tangoed with a couple of riders for the first 3 laps, but eventually I ran out of steam. My main motivation by the half way mark was to not let the mountain biker on the Rocky Mountain pass me, each time I had an opportunity to look back I noticed he was a little closer, until he caught me at the start of the last lap (4).
Kudos to him, as I believe I saw him race the 4A as well - and like a true gentleman when he did pass, he encouraged me to hang in there.
Had the last dismount barrier not been so close to the end of the lap, I would have re-mounted immediately and powered up the hill (like last week at indian lakes) giving me a great advantage over a crowded pack of runners. But unfortunately the peloton is so spread out by the end of even the first lap, I might as well run it. The final barrier section was also this week's Heckle Hill.
What I think I did right:
Pulled hard on climbs when I saw others were struggling.
Descended fast on available downhill sections, choosing good apex lines.
Weak points of the race:
Not enough effort at the start. I should have lined up earlier - but people line up about 45 minutes before the start! Way too soon for me, I'll end up freezing my knees off.
Ultimately I think having a SS mountain bike is harming my chances at taking a top 10 place on a course like this. I'd like to think losing 5-8 lbs of bike weight would have made a difference, especially with dismounts and shouldering, but maybe not. Maybe its just mental.
This was my first race with a team, and in a team uniform. I've got high hopes for the group and I hope I'm able to bring a lot to the table. Its too bad the season is pretty much over. Although I'm very tired, I don't think I'll be training much outside this week because of the holidays.
This course was nice and hilly, with decent natural technical sections. I think this was also my favorite course of the season. All the bumps and climbs and grass sections were smooth and had a certain rhythm. I was really looking forward to tackling the course on my mountain bike because parts of the course and vibe reminded me of our local mountain bike park, Palos. The weather played a large part in how nice the race played out as well. It had rained during the week but cleared up by Friday. So there was minimal peanut-butter like mud.
Thankfully, no one induced any muddy sections, unlike last week, where the muddy part of the course grew muddier and muddier as the day went on, creating a nearly impassable section by the time the 4B category was on. This week we were virtually racing the same course as the masters.
I was able to get 3 pre ride laps in. The course started with a bumpy "hole shot" that funneled into a tight right hand bend. The turn itself wasn't tight, but on the first lap there was a good traffic jam, giving the call-up riders a great advantage. I didn't even bother to exert any energy until things got technical. Which was a huge mistake.
After the first turn, there was plenty of time to pick up speed and pick a few people off before another descent. I hit a buried rock too hard with my rear wheel and thought I might had pinched my tire, but it held on. My rear tire PSI was dangerously low for my comfort and there were several times I thought I was going to roll my tire. At the bottom of the first descent there was a nice right hand bend again, but because of my tire and the composure of the soil (soft and leafy) approached with caution. On the first lap this downhill was pretty hectic, lots of people trying to avoid the furniture in the mud, when really they should have just gone over it. For some reason I knew by the first half of the lap my race was over, I'd have to really explode to place in the top 12 again, so I pushed and pushed and paced myself with other riders, over taking when I could. Surprisingly climbing seems to really go well with a SS bike, I was able to pick off 2-3 riders, and I'd always come out on top on barriers and remounts.
I think I tangoed with a couple of riders for the first 3 laps, but eventually I ran out of steam. My main motivation by the half way mark was to not let the mountain biker on the Rocky Mountain pass me, each time I had an opportunity to look back I noticed he was a little closer, until he caught me at the start of the last lap (4).
Kudos to him, as I believe I saw him race the 4A as well - and like a true gentleman when he did pass, he encouraged me to hang in there.
Had the last dismount barrier not been so close to the end of the lap, I would have re-mounted immediately and powered up the hill (like last week at indian lakes) giving me a great advantage over a crowded pack of runners. But unfortunately the peloton is so spread out by the end of even the first lap, I might as well run it. The final barrier section was also this week's Heckle Hill.What I think I did right:
Pulled hard on climbs when I saw others were struggling.
Descended fast on available downhill sections, choosing good apex lines.
Weak points of the race:
Not enough effort at the start. I should have lined up earlier - but people line up about 45 minutes before the start! Way too soon for me, I'll end up freezing my knees off.
Ultimately I think having a SS mountain bike is harming my chances at taking a top 10 place on a course like this. I'd like to think losing 5-8 lbs of bike weight would have made a difference, especially with dismounts and shouldering, but maybe not. Maybe its just mental.
This was my first race with a team, and in a team uniform. I've got high hopes for the group and I hope I'm able to bring a lot to the table. Its too bad the season is pretty much over. Although I'm very tired, I don't think I'll be training much outside this week because of the holidays.
posted by vectorbug at 8:23 AM
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