Today was the first round of the Bubba Memorial CX race series.
The race was at a new venue in Faust Park and it was a good challenging course. Lap times seemed to be about 4 minutes so course could have have been slightly longer but its not worthy of a complaint. The grassy section rather rolling with three major off-camber turns and less slightly off-camber.
The day didn't start well. While taking a 2nd warmup lap I crashed on the second off-camber. Typical of CX, the damage was minimal because of the slower speed and landing in grass. The a little later I approached the first set of hurdles slowly and with little concentration. My footwork was all out of whack. Somehow I stepped wrong and jammed my left hip. It remains a little sore tonight.
I did the A race today and was up against a field of mostly Cat 1's, 2's and Expert MTB'ers. I expected to get my butt handed to me and I did not disappoint. For the first few laps I was last but right on the wheel of Jay, who was right behind Aaron so I was staying competitive. They slightly opened a gap. Then Anthony Dust dropped a chain and the three of us passed him so I had hopes of not finishing last and I could see Jay's pace gradually slowing as I reeled him in.
Eventually I caught Jay and was surprised that a gap opened up between us while Anthony remained in the back but gained. Eventually Anthony passed Jay but Jay managed to hang onto his wheel. Meanwhile my lower back began to fatigue and my power was failing. Anthony pulled Jay back up to me and they both went right by me. From then on it was just a matter of finishing. The leaders, R. Pirtle and Butthead both lapped me 3 (maybe 4) times. I lost count. It was not pretty.
Next week I do the B race at Sioux Passage
News Item of the Day: Did a lopsided cleat cost Rabobank the teams victory in the World Cup? One of Rabobank's key riders, Michael Rasmussen, experienced this problem during yesterday's Giro di Lombardia and that could well have made the difference in the end. Rasmussen made it into a useful break after the descent of the Ghisallo, but couldn't hang on when Basso, Cunego, Boogerd and Evans caught up on the penultimate climb of the Civiglio with 16 km to go to form the decisive break. Rasmussen eventually crossed the line 45 seconds behind the winner in 23rd place.
"I am not content, not at all," Rasmussen wrote in his diary on feltet.dk. "If I have to make an explanation or an excuse if you like, my cleat had twisted before the start. I thought that I had put it back before starting, and that it was tightened. But after the race I could see that it didn't fit the marks I made under my shoes. The difference was a couple of millimetres, and that is sufficient to give you a cramp when you have to ride 250 km. I am of course extremely annoyed, and there is nobody but myself to blame. It is really stupid on such an important day."
Rasmussen will take his end of season break soon, but will also discuss his 2005 program with Rabobank, and he is hoping for a start in the Giro d'Italia. "My suggestion would be that I start relatively late next year, and that I ride the Giro as a preparation for the Tour de France. But The Tour would be my main objective. Then I can take a break after the Tour and then hopefully be ready for Zürich, the World's and Giro di Lombardia."
Viewpoint: Even the pros make mistakes.
The race was at a new venue in Faust Park and it was a good challenging course. Lap times seemed to be about 4 minutes so course could have have been slightly longer but its not worthy of a complaint. The grassy section rather rolling with three major off-camber turns and less slightly off-camber.
The day didn't start well. While taking a 2nd warmup lap I crashed on the second off-camber. Typical of CX, the damage was minimal because of the slower speed and landing in grass. The a little later I approached the first set of hurdles slowly and with little concentration. My footwork was all out of whack. Somehow I stepped wrong and jammed my left hip. It remains a little sore tonight.
I did the A race today and was up against a field of mostly Cat 1's, 2's and Expert MTB'ers. I expected to get my butt handed to me and I did not disappoint. For the first few laps I was last but right on the wheel of Jay, who was right behind Aaron so I was staying competitive. They slightly opened a gap. Then Anthony Dust dropped a chain and the three of us passed him so I had hopes of not finishing last and I could see Jay's pace gradually slowing as I reeled him in.
Eventually I caught Jay and was surprised that a gap opened up between us while Anthony remained in the back but gained. Eventually Anthony passed Jay but Jay managed to hang onto his wheel. Meanwhile my lower back began to fatigue and my power was failing. Anthony pulled Jay back up to me and they both went right by me. From then on it was just a matter of finishing. The leaders, R. Pirtle and Butthead both lapped me 3 (maybe 4) times. I lost count. It was not pretty.
Next week I do the B race at Sioux Passage
News Item of the Day: Did a lopsided cleat cost Rabobank the teams victory in the World Cup? One of Rabobank's key riders, Michael Rasmussen, experienced this problem during yesterday's Giro di Lombardia and that could well have made the difference in the end. Rasmussen made it into a useful break after the descent of the Ghisallo, but couldn't hang on when Basso, Cunego, Boogerd and Evans caught up on the penultimate climb of the Civiglio with 16 km to go to form the decisive break. Rasmussen eventually crossed the line 45 seconds behind the winner in 23rd place.
"I am not content, not at all," Rasmussen wrote in his diary on feltet.dk. "If I have to make an explanation or an excuse if you like, my cleat had twisted before the start. I thought that I had put it back before starting, and that it was tightened. But after the race I could see that it didn't fit the marks I made under my shoes. The difference was a couple of millimetres, and that is sufficient to give you a cramp when you have to ride 250 km. I am of course extremely annoyed, and there is nobody but myself to blame. It is really stupid on such an important day."
Rasmussen will take his end of season break soon, but will also discuss his 2005 program with Rabobank, and he is hoping for a start in the Giro d'Italia. "My suggestion would be that I start relatively late next year, and that I ride the Giro as a preparation for the Tour de France. But The Tour would be my main objective. Then I can take a break after the Tour and then hopefully be ready for Zürich, the World's and Giro di Lombardia."
Viewpoint: Even the pros make mistakes.
1 Comments:
Good job in the race. I couldn't stay to see the A race but the top B guys were going pretty fast. See my blog for a race report. Hey, can I link your blog on my site or would you rather stay kind of private for a while?
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