Race: Verge MAC Sreies— Blue Diamond Park Cross
Location: Evo Cross, Buckingham , Pa.
Date: Oct. 17, 2004
By Eric Ragot
So, I promised Sunday, last week...
Well, after travelling down to Delaware to do the Blue Diamond CX and getting delieriously muddy (see pic on website), I realized that I was going to get muddy again on Sunday. The ass was hurting from the skin rubbed raw (jumping onto chamois seam that was quite wet). I was tired. I drove back and forth to Delaware . I went out for my birthday the night before and again after Delaware . I knew it was going to be tough in Pennsylvania at Evo Cross on Sunday.
Gray day. Meet Noah by the Holland Tunnel. We get their plenty early. Its chilly. My legs feel fine, that troubles me. Normally they hurt, but not today. Great, I figure that the prior day's effort opened themup and I'll be able to do well.
The course looked like it went through a cow pasture - wait, it did go through a cow pasture. Thankfully, there were no cowpies on the course, only the inside of the course. It was still wet/damp out and it wasn't looking to be anything but slow on the day. As Noah and I walked the course, we came to the puddle section. At the end of the long gradual descent that had muddy/firm sections, you needed to turn right and head towards the day's one run up. Strategically placed in the apex of the turn (through slopppy mud and puddle) was a hay bale. What the hell is a bale doing there? Apparently there was a bit of a lip on some concrete there, don't know if it required a bale - felt like a crit.
Well, the damn grass after the turn was freaking slow. As a matter of fact, the course was slow - did I mention that already? The lead into the runup was a chicane type entrance and that would slow you down if the ground wasn't already sucking all speed out of you. The runup was fairly slippery and required a good deal of effort to get up. After you went down a series of descending switchbacks on berms - quite fun - and then immediately into a runup/ride up, depending on your pop and traffic. After that the course got relatively simple - climb up a road, make a left and ride around a field and when you came back it was into a headwind, some more twisting and then up the gradual rise that you descended to begin the race. Some more sucking grass, a couple of barriers and your back at the finish line.
I snagged me a call up and I took advantage of it by taking my time to get to the start area (membership has its priviledges). I lined up next to two of the guys who smoked me the day before and gave it a go. Straight away, have trouble clipping into my left pedal, but no matter, the most important thing to do when you want to win is to get the hole shot or really good position. Not trusting the other riders, I always go for the hole shot. SO, you keep pedalling, even without being clipped in (this applies everywhere on the course when you can't clip right back in, foot on pedal is good enough to get going, clip in later).
Down the slight descent and it the slightly muddy sections and someone is passing me to get to the hay bale first. Damn it, lost the hole shot advantage already. I can't remember if I took the run up first - I think I retook the lead heading into the runup and kept everyone in check behind me, but as we went around the field, I sat third wheel as mud was spit into my face. Then into the headwind, Tom Mains attacks (remember back to Highland Park story from a couple of years ago, he had the portable bike wash, he also was involved in my first successful breakaway in Prospect Park - we go back ages) and I figure that after his not quite so stellar performance yesterday, he'll just fade. We latch onto him.
I start to come unglued on the gradual uphill gravel section and I just can't stay with the group of four. Damn it!. Jonathan Gibbs (Bicycle Therapy) manages to catch up to me and we spend most of the next few laps together. I would usually gap him a bit on the run up and then he'd get back on. So, as we neared three to go, I decided to make him work for the place and to secure my fifth. I hit it hard on the runup and then kept it going after. He was able to remain about five seconds off, then I finally sucked it up and used the big ring on the gradual gravel. He faded more and more as I kept pounding away in the bigger gear (those club rides coming back to help me).
The finish was uneventful as even if Jonathan had caught me, I was sure of my ability to distance him in the barriers and make it to the finish line first, after all, I can only go fast for one kilometer anyway...
Prizes for the weekend - Saturday - Ziploc bag, water bottle, sports balm, chain lube and a t-shirt. Sunday - an Assos skull cap in red. Liz was a bit disappointed with my haul...
***Shocking*** Checked the results on Saturday night and - WHAT??? I was placed 5th on Saturday. I saw Judy Miller on Sunday and she confirmed that a lapped rider got placed incorrectly. Nobody even thought to check the results and protest. Judy asked what I wanted her to do and I was happy to ask that the standings in the series be fixed, not to upset official results. Happily, all worked out over the course of the week. The lapped rider admitted to being lapped and the resultswere changed accordingly.
-E.R.
10-26-04
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