Surf City CX #2

[Jim Hewett]

My son Simon and I made the 2 hour journey to Santa Cruz today for the second of the Surf City Cyclocross races.  It was sunny as we left Fairfax, but quickly turned overcast and colder through San Francisco.  We arrived in Santa Cruz with enough time for him to register and prepare for the kids' race.  They lined them up in two start groups:  7-9 year olds and 6 and under.  Though only 4 years old, Simon is bigger than many 7 year olds.  He dwarfed the younger kids on scoot bikes with his 20" wheeled geared mountain bike.  I encouraged him to do the longer course with the 7-9 year olds and he reluctantly agreed.  Once the race started, I ran with him a little and tried to cut the course to be there on the harder parts.  He pretty much did one lap of the course and had a blast.  There were a lot of kids racing and it really is a great opportunity for them to experience a little of what their parents do when racing.  We also really enjoyed watching the costume race.  Particular favorites were the bacon strip and the Lego man.  After this, his former babysitter (now a student at UCSC) arrived for the hand-off and I was able to begin my preparations for the Elite race.

After last week's chain drop, I took Cameron Falconer's advice and reduced the size of my cassette to 11-28.  This allowed me to remove two full chain links, which I figured would help with chain slack in the smaller cogs.  I had been using the 11-36t XX cassette because it is the lightest 10 speed cassette I own, but the additional weight of the stock 11-28 would be much better than a mechanical issue.  I have confidence that this change will give me security to run reliably without a chainguide due to the clutch rear deraileur and the narrow/wide front chainring.  Otherwise, the bike setup from last week was feeling pretty good.  I think I will do a review this week of the Trek Crockett 7 Disc cyclocross bike, as it is very new and I haven't seen anyone else on one yet.

The course was interesting.  It looked like there was effort made to force dismounts, as there was a long climb with roots that was unrideable, as well as a section of 3 closely spaced barriers.  One other spot was a two foot step-up that I was able to jump pretty easily, but for which I assumed most people would dismount.  I have been able to ride almost everything on the limited amount of 'cross courses I have raced, so I knew that being off the bike this much would be challenging, but a good chance to see how it works.

The course started with a bumpy grass sprint to a gravel climb that led to a paved climb and a straight paved section.  This high-speed section slowed abruptly at a short, bumpy and dusty descent just before a right turn on pavement.  Some greasy off-camber zig-zags put us out on a dirt track that went half-way around a football field until it took us into grass chicane through the venue area.  After blasting up a very short but steep and loose climb, we rode on bumpy dirt to bumpy grass chicanery and then hit the long climb.  It was rideable, though loose, most of the way, but as it turned right and climbed over some big roots, it was mandatory to be on foot.  At the top of the climb, we were back on pavement through the school, around to the step-up and over to a big drop that put us on more bumpy grass sections and the 3-barrier spot just before the 180 degree turn that pointed us toward the grassy 50 yards to the finish line.

It had even seemed to be raining a little earlier, but the sun came out just before our race began.  They called up the winners from the first race of the series and I pulled up behind them in the second row.  I knew the start would be important, as there might be a pile-up in a couple of places, or at least a traffic jam at the first descent.  I sprinted hard once things were underway and passed most of the leaders in the dirt to pavement climb.  I moved into third by the dirt road around the football field, just behind the two Jacques-Maynes.  This was a great place to be, but there were many strong guys just behind me and I felt the pressure.  I kept on the gas, but Chapin came around me in the barriers just before the end of the first lap.  It's good to see him coming into the good form that I remembered him having from my CX racing a couple of years ago.

Andrew Juliano came around me on the second lap.  I was able to jump the step-up on every lap but one, when I lost focus and botched it.  Justin Abbot took the opportunity to pass me.  We started spreading out a little, but I could still see a couple of the guys I have been mixing it up with this year not far behind me.  I think I had a slow lap on the third or fourth, but I turned it back up and caught Justin, who I think was cramping.  Keith Hillier passed me for a bit, but I caught and passed him on the long climb.  Cameron Falconer was just 6 seconds or so behind us, so I experimented with some "shit talking" when the course doubled back on itself.  The long climb became more and more running as the trail became looser and I became more fatigued.  This seemed painfully slow.  I am naturally a strong runner, once having run a five minute mile "off the couch", but I have not been doing any workouts to simulate carrying the bike uphill on a loose and steep trail.

Keith was just behind me as we started the last lap.  I think we were seventh and eighth, but sixth was not really in sight and we knew that the race was between the two of us.  I tried to keep the speed up and felt like I had a decent lead as we descended to the bumpy grass section before the final barriers.  Keith turned it on and must have gained a second or two in the dismount and remount of the 3 barrier section.  I thought about blocking him on the last hairpin turn, but he took me inside and we were sprinting for the finish.  I lost a second shifting to a harder gear, but I grunted and gave it everything I had, throwing the bars forward at the line but losing by a few inches.

I was not so happy with 8th place, but obviously there are a lot of guys that are feeling strong right now.  I felt I had a pretty good race, but I think I suffered a little from lack of CX-specific skill.  When you are doing so many laps, losing a couple of seconds in a few places on each lap really adds up.  While my fitness is coming along well, I may need to focus a couple of workouts next week on drills.

Next weekend Simon and I will be racing closer to home at the NorCal CX race at Stafford Lake.  I just built my first set of tubular wheels, so with luck I can have the tires glued up and ready to go by Sunday!