CX State Championships today in Columbia. The forecast was for rain to move in mid-day and weatherman nailed it. About 11:20, as I was changing clothes, the first drops of rain hit the windshield. From that point a light rain further softened what was already moist ground until about halfway through the race.
Personally I really liked the course. It wound back and forth upon itself quite a bit but still managed to get some straight sections of a reasonable length. They built the course with a nice width and kept the turns from being too tight.
My start was sub-par but not terrible. The top 4 riders were off and in the clear early as the rest of us tried to sort out our rightful spots in the race. I settled into a 5-man group with Rich, Greg, Pedro and a KCOI rider. While the KC rider, Rich and Greg traded surges I tried to be patient. I was quick the the start finish area but slow on a downhill section but it all evened out.
First to go was Pedro but he put up a real good effort in the early going. Eventually the KC guy slowly pulled away from Greg, Rich and I. From then on, the three of stayed pretty much together for the rest of the race. I continued to let Rich and Greg do much of the work. At one point though Greg had his bike slip from underneath as he took the hairpin into the set of 5 barriers. I barely avoided him while Rich got hung up by the crash. I was clear for a while but they came charging back and caught me a lap and a half later where I again let them do the work since they were so eager. Rich finally fell off the pace a little in the last 4(?) laps and it was down to Greg and I. Greg pulled most of the time and a couple times I thought he was going to ride away but I kept him close enough and did a few turns at the front myself.
We began the last lap and I was trying to think where I was faster than Greg and where I could make a move. I seemed to be quicker going a hill that led to the last set of zig-zags. To tell you the truth I dont remember right now where I passed Greg but I believe it was at that point. Once I had the pass the zig-zagging didnt provide for a lot of passing opportunities until the turning onto the pavement for the last time. Once the pass was made though I remember telling myself to keep it clean. Nice smooth turns, a good dismount, stick the remount, make it through the sand pit. Once the difficult parts were done it was just a matter of making that last 180 onto the pavement and accelerating good just in case wanted to make a go for a sprint. I made the turn the best I had all day and stayed ahead without much fight.
End result was 2nd in 35+ age group. The overall placing I'm not sure of but I would guess 7th or 8th. I'm satisfied with the result.
Driving home I was thinking of what Cat 3's were in the race. I could only think of Nate unless one or two of the non-StL guys were threes. I may have been able to nab another medal without working hard. It was nasty and rainy though so I dont feel I missed anything.
News Item of the Day: Round #5 of this season's cyclo-cross World Cup was impressively won by Belgian Sven Nys, whose teammate at Rabobank, Richard Groenendaal, kept the chasing Czech Peter Dlask and Fidea rider Erwin Vervecken under control when Nys made the final and decisive attack in the last lap. "When Groenendaal shut the door behind me, I knew I'd win," the Belgian World Cup leader told the press after the race. "A great gesture of Groenendaal. Finally, we could race as a team, because we were both strong enough to do it. He can count on me to give him something back in the coming weeks." It was Nys' 25th World Cup race victory, and his fifth win in Wetzikon.
Viewpoint: Sven is looking tough to beat. I hope he can keep it up until Worlds in January.
Personally I really liked the course. It wound back and forth upon itself quite a bit but still managed to get some straight sections of a reasonable length. They built the course with a nice width and kept the turns from being too tight.
My start was sub-par but not terrible. The top 4 riders were off and in the clear early as the rest of us tried to sort out our rightful spots in the race. I settled into a 5-man group with Rich, Greg, Pedro and a KCOI rider. While the KC rider, Rich and Greg traded surges I tried to be patient. I was quick the the start finish area but slow on a downhill section but it all evened out.
First to go was Pedro but he put up a real good effort in the early going. Eventually the KC guy slowly pulled away from Greg, Rich and I. From then on, the three of stayed pretty much together for the rest of the race. I continued to let Rich and Greg do much of the work. At one point though Greg had his bike slip from underneath as he took the hairpin into the set of 5 barriers. I barely avoided him while Rich got hung up by the crash. I was clear for a while but they came charging back and caught me a lap and a half later where I again let them do the work since they were so eager. Rich finally fell off the pace a little in the last 4(?) laps and it was down to Greg and I. Greg pulled most of the time and a couple times I thought he was going to ride away but I kept him close enough and did a few turns at the front myself.
We began the last lap and I was trying to think where I was faster than Greg and where I could make a move. I seemed to be quicker going a hill that led to the last set of zig-zags. To tell you the truth I dont remember right now where I passed Greg but I believe it was at that point. Once I had the pass the zig-zagging didnt provide for a lot of passing opportunities until the turning onto the pavement for the last time. Once the pass was made though I remember telling myself to keep it clean. Nice smooth turns, a good dismount, stick the remount, make it through the sand pit. Once the difficult parts were done it was just a matter of making that last 180 onto the pavement and accelerating good just in case wanted to make a go for a sprint. I made the turn the best I had all day and stayed ahead without much fight.
End result was 2nd in 35+ age group. The overall placing I'm not sure of but I would guess 7th or 8th. I'm satisfied with the result.
Driving home I was thinking of what Cat 3's were in the race. I could only think of Nate unless one or two of the non-StL guys were threes. I may have been able to nab another medal without working hard. It was nasty and rainy though so I dont feel I missed anything.
News Item of the Day: Round #5 of this season's cyclo-cross World Cup was impressively won by Belgian Sven Nys, whose teammate at Rabobank, Richard Groenendaal, kept the chasing Czech Peter Dlask and Fidea rider Erwin Vervecken under control when Nys made the final and decisive attack in the last lap. "When Groenendaal shut the door behind me, I knew I'd win," the Belgian World Cup leader told the press after the race. "A great gesture of Groenendaal. Finally, we could race as a team, because we were both strong enough to do it. He can count on me to give him something back in the coming weeks." It was Nys' 25th World Cup race victory, and his fifth win in Wetzikon.
Viewpoint: Sven is looking tough to beat. I hope he can keep it up until Worlds in January.
1 Comments:
Good race Jim. You showed a lot of patience.
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