I got up Sunday, not the same blue skies as Saturday I was hoping for, but a grey overcast. As I made breakfast it started snowing out side…and by the time I was loading the car we had an inch. As I was driving south, the roads dried up, and by Bellevue there was no sign of any snow at all…maybe it won’t be so bad after all! I was starting to feel good about the weather…until I got of hwy 167, and headed up the hill to Bonny lake…snow was coming down hard up here… I was a bit worried that it would be very wet and muddy but after riding the course a few times during warm-up I realized that the opposite was true. The ground was frozen, and rock solid…and very bumpy. There was a slight dusting of snow on the ground, and rather cold..the thermal jacket I was wearing during warm-up felt nice.. hopefully the effort during the race would keep me warm without it.
I lined up in the second row, right behind Matt Hill. I clipped in right away…but Matt had problems which caused us to be swarmed pretty fast. We both went on the left side to move up as much as possible before squeezing though the wood pools and taking the right turn. I was still pretty far back, maybe 15th. I felt good and moved up a few spots as soon as I could. Half way the first lap on a small riser I’m just about to pass a rider on the right when he snaps his chain and blocks me completely, once I get going again, I’ve lost 5-6 spots. One thing after another!. Right after going down the hill I manage to just about re connect with a group of 6-7 riders ahead. I need to make up some ground now…so on the long starting straight I stand and surge past 5-6 riders… I manage to keep the gap for a while, but pretty soon they are on my heels as I try to and recover from the effort. It was an eventful first lap…and maybe I spent a bit too much energy too soon.
As I jump back on my bike after the run-up on lap two, I hear a crack..… my saddle tilted up. It’s still ridable but not that comfortable. I look at the lap sign, and there are still 6 laps to go. As long as it doesn’t get worse I can probably finish. As soon as I think this, I hear another crack and the saddle moves even more. Now I really have to careful to not jump back on too hard, but gently trying to remount the bike, stand when very bumpy. I can feel a lack of power in this position, and my lower back is starting to hurt. Riders soon pass me, one by one. Is it worth stooping and trying to fix the problem in the pit?... probably not, unless I had a spare seatpost and saddle set up , or a spare bike… I just have to be careful and hope for the best, there isn’t much hope in moving up any more as my back is getting worse, just try and not get caught…
I finally roll across the line in 9th…not as good as I had hoped, but not too bad considering…but I knew I had more in me.. that is cross, you have to be able overcome all kind of setbacks, and be prepared for anything.
During the nine cross races I did this season I had one rolled tire, two incidents with my rear brake and one seatpost issue, that really isn’t too bad. No bad crashes, no flats 20min away form the pit and no injuries worse then a few cuts and bruises.
I was really happy with the performance of the tubular setup, I really liked being able to run a lower tire pressure without having to worry about pinch flats. The bike in general worked real well. I can’t really think of anything I need to improve setup wise for next year, once I switch out the brake pads for the gripper red ones and run a larger range cassette. Maybe a single up front, but not sure if it is worth the hassle, and what would I really gain?..
Next year I will try and be more specific about my training for cross, and maybe I can improve some again
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