Certainly one of my favorite type of days. Cyclocross and orienteering together. One of the highlights of late Fall! I may have sucked at racing this Fall, but it was still fun!
This is what it looked like 90 min before start time. Black ice on all the pavement sections. Knarly!
Start area 60 min later after 2 hrs of shoveling, sand, and salt. Starting to thaw?
More ice over the crossway on the Lake. They didn't have time to address this, so the ice stayed here till the 2nd race
Crusty snow downhill into an offcamber turn. Yea right! I was debating racing in my orienteering shoes and running the course with my bike on my shoulder. No joke, I really thought it could be a strategy.
25 deg. This crossway was filled with either snow, crust, or ice the whole way. It was an interesting section to preride. Would this be the cause of alot of carnage?
I showed up very early. Was the first one there except the race staff. I was serious about this cross race as the legs were starting to come around. It was my priority that day. Had two great weeks of training. So, I ate early and carefully, planned a warmup, and thought maybe I should be serious. I had planned on some orienteering fun just after the race so raced in Cat 4.
When I arrived I found all this ice. I was a little bummed I made the drive, but was feeling good. So, I waited it out and waited and waited. The course wasn't rideable at first with ordinary cross tires. The guy next to me drove in, got out of his car, and promptly hit the pavement hard. I really didn't want another broken bone this year. Yea, I was a little sketched. Then I watched the first guy go out and preride the course. He fell twice, came back to his car, and drove out of the parking lot. It was pretty funny! Ray had asked me to let him know if he was bothering my prerace routine. I said "I'm just really wondering if I should be doing this given what I went thru this year." The conditions South of the Baltimore area had more ice than snow. Course was unrideable at 8am, so I ran/walked the course and took pics, using my Inov-8 orienteering shoes. Enjoying the crisp air! I debated just heading to the 11am orienteering event several hours early and getting in a long run. I was sort of assuming the Cat 4 division would be cancelled. Slowly, a few brave riders ventured out. Ray and I from Team Adventures for the Cure saddled up. It was not without a few spills and wondering "this seems crazy for a race." However, sun was rising, temps were projected to get to 40 deg, so the thaw slowly ensued. Alot of riders didn't head out. I think we only had 50 out of 90 riders showing up for our division. Ray and I decided not to wimp out. I was wondering if I should of mounted studded tires. That would the trick for this ride. Ray was sporting a 29er, and I was a tad jealous! I saw a few others show up with MTB's, and was thinking "wow, they are smart." I lowered my air pressure to the point I was tapping the rims continuously. It did seem to help. Somehow, I ended up feeling it was right to be out racing.
Then, I got the front row start line? Did I somehow get points during this dark season? I know, I had a good excuse, but I wasn't sure I even belonged up there. Anyhow, I was pretty stoked and then all of a sudden, everything felt ok. But wow, it's so much easier up there than behind 50 folks. The talk in the start lineup was filled with nervousness and caution. My only comment was "someone is breaking something today." Maybe I shouldn't have said that. Bad omen! Being up front, I didn't have to produce a significant amount of lactate and settled into a relaxed 3rd place position, sitting on a wheel for the first lap. Ok, this was starting to be really fun. It may have been the low tire pressure, but I felt extremely quick in the crusty snow sections. Eventually, my legs were getting antsy. This seemed easy compared to MTBing in several feet of snow in N Michigan last year. Was it the bike or my legs? Everyone was seemingly holding back or did the strong guys stay home. I recognized one of the top Cat 4 folks and the announced said the collegiate CAt 1-3 TT champion was in our field. Sure, he's a sandbagger, but he was new to cross and we were racing in the North Pole. So, maybe it was my day? Near the end of lap 1, my legs started calling the shots as once again the lead pack slowed in another layer of crusty snow. So, that was it. I swerved around and jumped. Bad idea? However, I immediately had a nice gap. The lead lasted for an all too short 300 meters, but, I have to admit, I still remember the feeling a week later.
What happened was I reentered a section of snow covering the pavement near the start/finish area. Of course, the next thing I know, Bam! I slipped out hard on a small patch of ice under some snow. I remounted quickly realizing the wind was knocked out of me and found out my rear derailleur hanger was snapped. I sat there draped over my bike and watched the lead group go by. Oh well, I guess that's cross. I did attempt to run for 5 minutes wondering if could I run that far with a cross bike or if somehow a replacement bike would magically appear from the heavens. A bike never appeared, but the day wasn't over.
Later, I did get to sit and watch Ray go on to finishing his first Cx race!! Even helped him pin on his first Cx number. He ain't no wimp!! I suppose he's from Baltimore.
Then I headed over for a :55 min intermediate and 2:15 advanced orienteering run. I was utterly smoked halfway thru those final checkpoints, but totally happy! Starting at 8am then going till 2pm, but then running on progressively thawing snow and mud . It took it's toll. I was pretty shelled driving home. Endurance is always slow to come back, but what a fun day!
Love life! The official motto of AFC!
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