Goals

See how the ankles hold up. Starting to feel a bit better, but kind of flat after a training-free week.

Course

Billed as a beginner friendly course, didn’t have a whole lot of surprises. Wood chips. Long windy but easily navigable grass section (power sucking, but still fairly fast). Barriers to short run up. Long hard pack and pavement section littered with some loose rocks and gravel. A few tight turns. Log barriers.

Race

Got a much better start this time and with the wide open hard pack homestretch I was able to move up into 10th or so. However, the leaders got a good gap and stayed away. Passed and got passed here and there on the first lap, Hank passed me and stayed away about halfway into the first lap. The next three laps were about the same, rode hard, took all the obstacles fast and smoothly, passed and got passed. I guess I netted about five spots down from my start and ended up 15th/23. Not great, but I think I rode well, especially with hurt ankles.

Summary

October 6th through October 12th, 2008. Ankles hurting a lot after too much cyclocross practice and racing. Need to ice them and take it easy.

Monday-Thursday

Nothing. Took the bus, iced the ankles. Thursday did a very brief ride.

Friday

Commuted.

Saturday

LARPD #2

Sunday

Rode out to the Presidio to watch the Blue Angels.

Goals

See if I could improve my start. Though, ankles were hurting majorly so no particular ambitions.

Course

Night and day difference between the course yesterday and today in Sacramento. Long dry course with very few technical turns.

Long wide open start with barriers a few hundred yards in. Long pavement section leading to a small dirt climb (enough to put the hurt on the bigger guys). Through a gully to a long hard pack section and up a loose dirt hill for some uphill barriers. Down onto more hard pack with a few wide open turns and back to the finish.

Race

Again a poor start, but focused on picking off as many as I could through the start. After the barriers I dragged Hank up through the pavement section and we got through the little climb in a decent position. Hank got away after the uphill barriers since with my hurt ankles I couldn’t take them very fast. Still, thought I held onto 10th or so for the next 2 laps. Got passed by two guys 3/4 of the way into the final lap.

Rode harder today on the fast open hard pack course (suited for a roadie/crit racer), but turns out I was further back than I thought in the start and several riders opened a big gap that I couldn’t see through the turns later on. Hank was able to close it early on, but with my ankles hurting on the barriers I lost big chunks of time. Ended up 21st/33.

First cyclocross race.

Goals

Finish, stay upright, stay smooth on the barriers and run ups.

Course

Doyle park: barriers followed by a mix of a long windy grass section wrapping around trees with a lot of loose debris. Rain the previous night made it very slippery and slow. Long pavement section (bike path/sidewalk) back on to grass. Barriers then pavement and down into a creek bed with a short muddy run-up, just about unrideable though later races were riding it. Back onto some grass and behind the playground again down into the creek bed, another run up and back behind the playground with an unrideable sand section. Back onto grass and a wood chip mound just before the finish.

Race

I got a poor start, despite reading all the advice on getting a good start. Fortunately starting further back kept me out of the huge pileup in the first corner. Snuck around the tangle of bikes and headed out on my way judging my position to be about 8th or 9th. Several laps in I started to get complacent and confused as I passed a few here and there but got passed by others (some singlespeeds Bs that went off just behind us, including Hank and Ryan). The race ended before I knew it and I definitely could have gone harder on the last lap. Cyclocross races seem like they last forever when you are out there, but 30 minutes (Men’s Cs) is a very short time and it’s over very quickly. Result: 10th/24.

Rode fairly well in my first race, though I have some work to do in the pacing and handling departments. The windy turns on the loose leaves and grass were really slow. I finished with a lot left in the tank which means I could have definitely gone harder. My barriers, dis/mounts, and run-ups were all very smooth though, attributed to the hours of practice.