Cross Revolution took us to the Evergreen High School venue and race day found us under sunny skies and 70 degree warmth. The course was, of course, dry. It seemed pretty fast and contained quite a few short, steep ascents. In general it was similar to last year's event at this venue.
As the first race on my calendar I was using this race to evaluate this year's equipment and fitness.
The Bike
I was not alone in choosing to race a Ibis Hakka MX. During warm up I noticed there were at least five Hakkas in the same color as mine. While waiting on the start line I noticed a few more. This boosted my confidence in my equipment. But the real test happened on the course and the Hakka shined. I'm adapting well to the less precise steering at low speeds. At speed the handling was rock solid stable. And it railed the fast corners.
The Tires
Cornering speed is dependent on tires and my choice of tubeless Maxxis Ramblers in 40mm was an outlier. A quick survey indicated most racers were sticking with 33mm wide tires. Luckily a racer I know was also testing a set of Ramblers. And this racer knows his way around a cross course. When I asked Craig Undem about his experiences so far he admitted this was his first race on the Ramblers. We agreed to share notes after the race.
My Fitness
Racing cyclocross requires short bursts of power. I can match the fast guys' accelerations once or twice or even twenty times. Cyclocross racing requires hundreds of these short efforts. The power numbers from my power meter don't tell the whole story. An hour of racing did.
Cat 1/2 Master Men 45+
I lined up in the second row behind Craig. He knew that when 25 racers funneled into the first few turns there would be mayhem. When he powered off the line I dug deep to stay on his wheel. After a handful of quick turns the course straightened and I found myself in fourth and well ahead of the traffic jams. After letting one rider come by on the next straight I clamped on to the tail end of the lead group for as long as I was able.
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| Cat 1/2 Master Men 45+ start. Photo courtesy Woodinville Bicycle. |
The run up exposed a crack in my fitness. The other members of the lead group didn't show as much hurt when we remounted at the top.
The sand section exposed another weakness. I bobbled, had to put a foot down, and watched the leaders ride away.
Lap two played out a lot like the first lap except I raced with the chase group. This group was also about five. This group also rode away when I, again, botched the sand section.
In the moment I realized I was matching the power and corning speed of the riders in these two groups. But my frustration was growing with my bike handling in the sand section.
For the remainder of my race I rode mostly alone. The patterns established on laps one and two were repeated. Get crushed by the run up. Recover well enough a few turns later. Then botch the sand section where I would both lose time and put out extra effort to run the bike out of the sand. Had I been racing against the sand section it would have been judged the winner. In seven laps I rode it clean just once. On four of the laps I bobbled, lost momentum, and then dismounted to finish the section on foot. Twice I hit the deck.
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| Dwaine concentrates during one of the many short grassy descents at Evergreen HS. Photo courtesy Woodinville Bicycle. |
On my second to last lap the leaders of the Cat 1/2 men race were closing in and threatening to put me a lap down. I focused myself, barely stayed away, and earned myself the privilege of one more lap. I finished 14th of 22 finishers in my class.
Findings
Sand Sucked. Most days I can find the bike handle. But the short sand section had my number. There is, however, more to this story. My poor performance led me to do some serious thinking on why the wheels fell off and how I will get them back on. Expect a blog post about this topic next week.
Fitness OK. On the sections of the course that did not require running I was pretty pleased with my fitness. More often than not I could push watts into the accelerations and find enough recovery to repeat.
Run up not OK. My legs felt weak. My heart rate hit the ceiling. The run up became my Kryptonite.
Tires. I was staring at the ground with drool escaping when Craig approached me after the race. Despite identical tires we experienced different race outcomes. Craig took his Ramblers to 3rd place. Chapeau.
We shared our thoughts on the Maxxis Ramblers and found consensus. They sucked up the bumps well. We both ran pressure in the low 20's and appreciated the lack of sharp jolts coming through the saddle. Cornering was predictable and on par with a typical 33mm file tread. The Ramblers also gave great feedback. There was a slight sense of tire rollover when a tire was overloaded. When the limit of traction was reached they let go predictably.
Evergreen High School was not my break out race. But the news was not all bad. My equipment choices were solid. Despite a single race in the books this boosted my confidence about this year's equipment and I'm looking forward to spending more energy on race craft and training. I'm also encouraged by some aspects of my fitness and feel like there is still a little more to be found.
Finally, the difficulties in the sand section have forced me to challenge some of my assumptions. I've heard you either win or learn. This week the sand chose for me and I'll be back next time a little wiser.
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