BayState cyclocross day 1

[Doran Abel]

Good job Chris, my son and I were watching you in the Sat. Jrs. 10 - 14 after the Sat. Cat 4 35+ race. Next year he will be 10 and hopefully give some cross a go and we can all get together for some some training rides in the Weston area. It looks like most of the Baystate race reports are on a Cyclocross thread.

My day in the Cat 4 35+ race on Sat. was rough. I hit a wood stake (no breakaway on this monster) on the first lap down in one of the off camber divets and flipped my bike, landed on my head, jammed my thumb in the ground, and a guy ran over me. All of a sudden the stake was there in the middle of the course with no visual clue with all the tape ripped away. I rolled down the hill and then got back up and continued with grass buried in my brake hoods. I think I was dead last in the field by that point. I was mad at that point and managed to catch about 7 or 8 riders before I ran out of course. I had visions of being in the top half of the field for once, but it was not to be at 40th. Does anyone in the Cat 4 35+ race know what happened to the guy laying on the track near the start line bleeding with the paramedics on the way? I was shocked to see that in the middle of the race - although I have seen it happend at the the start in that location (last year in the Masters 55+).

I couldn't go on sunday with my back and neck sore and a thumb unable to grab the bars. Amazingly, I am feeling much better today and did a baby road ride this morning in the mild weather - mostly with one hand. I will probably do one more event - either Warwick or Ice Weasels/Beer Cross.

[taudep]

Uneventful race for me. Blah course (sounds like Day#2 course was pretty sweet). Blah start, blah results. And a little annoyed that the race organizers had committed to a three lap race before we even started. The winner of the Cat 4's finished in 26 minutes. I feel a little gypped for paying $1.25/minute and didn't go back on Sunday because of it (I didn't pre-reg and wasn't paying $40 for another sub-30 minute race). Let the winner race for 30 minutes, and then let us slower riders trickle in... I didn't like driving 1:15 for such a short race. And I was disappointed upon hearing that cat 4 and cat 4 35+ fields getting combined didn't result in a 40 minute race, like they did for Northampton.

And why am I so annoyed? Because with a near back start, I was actually slowly working my way through the field for the whole race and still had gas left.

I'm very glad that NBX in Providence next weekend is 40 minutes.

*end of rants*

[scott_sweeney]

Good point on combining the fields. Like Noho, I feel like there was plenty of room for both groups to go at the same time and it definitely would be nice to have 40 minutes rather than 30. I'm fairly sure that we passed guys in the group that started a minute up on us anyway.

[taudep]

You're probably right about passing the guys that started a minute up. That's why I was probably able to have Mark McCormick wattage on demand and look uber-strong passing a group of three like 12-year-olds passing notes in class. Also makes sense considering where I finished.

[Doran Abel]

My feeling, based on the response I got from the promoter, is that the Cat 4 and Cat 4 35+ race was a 30 min. race no matter what - combined or staggered start. The staggered start was a small bonus. I agree though, I prefer the 40 min. format - it gives me time to catch (a few) with my slow starts.

Good job to all on the top 10 and top 25 finishes. Someday, for me - but I am running out of somedays at least this year.

[Smudger]

Agreed 30 min or in actual fact 26/27 min doesn't even approach value for money and starting the Cat 4 35+ 1 min behind the Cat 4's is a joke. Not that it would have made any real difference but after the 1st half lap I had no idea where I was in the race and was left to try and pick my way through the back of the 4s checking their race numbers to see if they were actually in the 35+.

Aside from this frustration I had a blast. Probably because it was my 1st race back since Gloucester so it didn't really matter to me what the duration or format was. Both courses were fun. Sat was tough cause of the wind and the longer power sections which should have suited me better but got 8th (not enough gas in my legs after 6 weeks off) . Sun was more technical and the greasy off cambers in the shade for our early race start had me on the edge but managed to get 6th so all in it was great to be back.

Am currently in negotiations at home to find out if I can make it to Warwick and Wrentham. Not looking good based on kids activities though

[tsavage]

I sympathize guys.... I registered for the 45+ because I wanted more than the 30 mins in the 4s.

For some bizarre reason, on 2 to go, I saw that Sam would probably catch me just before the track and turned on the gas so I wouldn't get lapped.

Well, I got it! And a finish time of 55:16. Only 7 seconds slower than Powers' winning time.