Well, what can I say? It was a first for me at this venue, it was the first mud bath of the year, it was a first for so many crashes and a first at the Widmer Brewery:)
The Course: The course was good, it had pretty everything you could want in a CX course. Pavement, mud, fast grass, mud, chicanes, mud, fast down muddy downhill, mud, nasty run-up, mud, fast gravel, & more mud...
The bike: The Vertigo performed perfectly, it was the first test in the mud and I had no problems with clearance. Plenty of room for the mud to clear.
The Tires: OH THE TIRES. This is where the biggest mistake of the day was made. I ran a Dugast in the back and Tufo Flexus on the front. I crashed at least 10 times the first lap, loosing a lot of time. As I got to the pit I pulled in and put the Mud on the front and took off. No more problems, well except for being close to the back of the pack.
The Report: I got a pretty good warm up by walking the course, and getting 20 minutes on the trainer. Got a good position at the start and had a good start. came into the first real corner and felt my front end slipping away, foot out, and back at it. Next corner same thing but wasn't able to save it, down I go. It went that way most of the first lap, I was able to keep the lead group in site but then we got past the stair run up and into some really bad slop. I lost the bike 6-8 times in the next 1/4 mile until we got back to the start area. By then the lead group was a good 3oo-400 meters in front of me. I set out to chase only to crash a couple more times. I finally got to the pit and forced myself to make the wheel change. It felt like it took forever to change the wheel, probably 30-40 seconds. (note to self: set the quick release up next time) Back on the bike and chasing now, working my way through the back of the B field and the SS's that had passed me. Coming down the hill towards the stairs, guy in front of me goes down, I go over his bike without crashing. Off the bike, over the barriers, and then Wham! somebody slams into me from the back. He hit me hard enough to knock the wind out of me. I made it up the stairs and felt my back tighten up. I backed off thinking this is it. I made it to the finish area, and almost stopped but then convinced myself to try and to turn the race into a positive instead of a negative. I set out again chasing and made it back up a few places by the end. At the finish I figured I was top ten, looks like 8th by the results. The last lap went pretty good I caught and passed 2 SS's and had a pretty flawless lap.
Overall a good experience, and a lot learned. I have some Edge Data to upload for the course, I left the download cable at my office though and woke up this morning feeling sick so staying home today. Also a shout out to my teammates, Lou in his first real Cross Race doing the B's, and Damien racing with me in the SS field and getting 5th place.
Next week: Alpenrose and the first Cross Crusade, it won't be so easy for everyone next week!
The Course: The course was good, it had pretty everything you could want in a CX course. Pavement, mud, fast grass, mud, chicanes, mud, fast down muddy downhill, mud, nasty run-up, mud, fast gravel, & more mud...
The bike: The Vertigo performed perfectly, it was the first test in the mud and I had no problems with clearance. Plenty of room for the mud to clear.
The Tires: OH THE TIRES. This is where the biggest mistake of the day was made. I ran a Dugast in the back and Tufo Flexus on the front. I crashed at least 10 times the first lap, loosing a lot of time. As I got to the pit I pulled in and put the Mud on the front and took off. No more problems, well except for being close to the back of the pack.
The Report: I got a pretty good warm up by walking the course, and getting 20 minutes on the trainer. Got a good position at the start and had a good start. came into the first real corner and felt my front end slipping away, foot out, and back at it. Next corner same thing but wasn't able to save it, down I go. It went that way most of the first lap, I was able to keep the lead group in site but then we got past the stair run up and into some really bad slop. I lost the bike 6-8 times in the next 1/4 mile until we got back to the start area. By then the lead group was a good 3oo-400 meters in front of me. I set out to chase only to crash a couple more times. I finally got to the pit and forced myself to make the wheel change. It felt like it took forever to change the wheel, probably 30-40 seconds. (note to self: set the quick release up next time) Back on the bike and chasing now, working my way through the back of the B field and the SS's that had passed me. Coming down the hill towards the stairs, guy in front of me goes down, I go over his bike without crashing. Off the bike, over the barriers, and then Wham! somebody slams into me from the back. He hit me hard enough to knock the wind out of me. I made it up the stairs and felt my back tighten up. I backed off thinking this is it. I made it to the finish area, and almost stopped but then convinced myself to try and to turn the race into a positive instead of a negative. I set out again chasing and made it back up a few places by the end. At the finish I figured I was top ten, looks like 8th by the results. The last lap went pretty good I caught and passed 2 SS's and had a pretty flawless lap.Overall a good experience, and a lot learned. I have some Edge Data to upload for the course, I left the download cable at my office though and woke up this morning feeling sick so staying home today. Also a shout out to my teammates, Lou in his first real Cross Race doing the B's, and Damien racing with me in the SS field and getting 5th place.
Next week: Alpenrose and the first Cross Crusade, it won't be so easy for everyone next week!
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