QuadCross 2012

[rusto]

I raced the Cat 4 35+ at 10:01 right after the open 4's.

Lined up 3rd row, got a great start and was top 10 going past the start/finish the first time. Dared to ride the sand and had two guys run by me – the sand was not packed down enough yet. "Ok, settle in, race your race," I told myself.

Lap two had Chris Busick say, "Hello!" (or was it, "Outta my way!") as he made his way past me (he started in the last row). Not unexpected, I predict great results from him in this, his noob CX season.

At this point, I noticed that when I was in either one of the middle two cogs in my cassette, it would shift back and forth: up a gear and down a gear. No amount of clicking would get it to stick, so I resigned myself to pedaling along with this peculiarity. I didn't dare futz with the barrel adjuster while racing, either I'd make things worse or would crash while riding one handed.

By lap 3, Andrew Cooper (unattached racer, husband of Kerry Litka, who was placed one spot ahead of me by the CrossResults Race Predictor) passed me and from then to the end, it was back and forth between us. He dumped once on the zig-zag on the downhill fire road, battled back past me on the baseball field, stayed ahead a coupla bike lengths as we reeled in some blown out racers from our field and the sub-35 4's.

2nd to last lap, I got back past Andrew as he got clogged up with a slower rider rounding the trees on the baseball field. I could hear him right behind me and kept expecting him to come by again, somehow, I stayed ahead.

Bell lap came at just the right time, I was ready to puke but felt like I could push it a little harder. I put more distance on Andrew on the two woodsy climbs (loving my 42/28) and I was able to hold that gap all the way to the end. I got 18th and he got 19th - the predictor had it Andrew 22nd and me 23rd so I beat it by 5 spots.

Very happy with that result!

Summary: this was the first CX race where I didn't crash even once. Very happy w/my bike handling skills.

I feel like I've really got a sense of how much effort I can put out even though my cardiovascular system is running full tilt - I really felt like I did a good job holding back just a little at the beginning so that I could finish stronger than I ever have before.

I think I got the tire inflation voodoo down pretty well, for my weight (165, yeesh!) on Challenge Grifo clinchers, 28 psi hits the sweet spot between a bigger footprint and not feeling like I'm going to pinch flat.

[rusto]

UPDATE: looking at my Strava posting, my lap times throughout the race were within 10 seconds of each other. At first glance, I'd think that was a good thing... should I be looking for negative splits instead? Moah hahdah?

[jraguin]

Great race Russ. My opinion is that you should not be negative splitting. Your first lap should try to be your fastest because you should try to get out so you don't have as many people to pass. But I am no pro... I would be interested what Doug, Chris, etc. say.

[pace21]

After working out all the mechanical gremlins at Blunt Park 2 weeks ago I finally had a clean race. Actually it was the first race I've had in a while with no bobbles, missteps, crashes, or mechanicals. Nice. I felt really great in warmup and preride; I knew who my primary rivals would be (Baker, Ouellette, Durrin) and thanks to a generously wide 10 spot front row we all lined up next to each other. After a remarkably short whistle that caught a few by surprise we were off. I slotted into 5th or 6th wheel, made a couple passes on the first lap, and settled in to a rhythm pretty quickly. I basically sat on Dan Baker's wheel for the first 2 laps, he was hammering and it was happy to be hanging on. First place was a young ECV guy who checked out after about 3 turns so the race for 2nd was on.... About mid race the 4th place guy (Ouellette) started gaining ground, so I mini-attacked mostly to just push the pace. It became clear that my move would only delay the inevitable capture by Ouellette so I backed off just a fraction. Baker went by me by attacking the sand on foot -- I figured I'd catch him on the following flat since the run/remount combo might slow him. That was fine, except Ouellette went by too. Oops. Then a flash of gray and red went by and it was some unattached really fast dude that started in the back and eventually finished 2nd. So it was Baker, Ouellette, and I for the final podium spot. Unfortunately for me my fastest section was the woods, but being 3rd in line it was difficult to make up any ground. I rode behind Ouellette for a while and eventually passed him on the short steep climb, I made up some ground on Baker but finished 5 seconds back at the line. Extremely happy with 4th place, and it turned out they did a 5 spot podium so that was a bonus, as was the $20 payday

I really enjoy these lower key races, and this course is quite possibly my favorite of the whole season. Great job by the Quad guys putting on a sweet race. Russ had the epiphany that maybe we could do a Wednesday night training race at that venue next year. Definitely worth looking into.

[swawersik]

Second race of the weekend for me, and I must admit my legs were feeling it during warmup (but I'll be glad I'm doing these 2-race weekends come the second day of G'Ster and PVD). And this was my first Cat3 race staged by Cxresults points, so ass end of the start grid for me.

Had a clean start, and followed Mike Cook forward during a "parting of the seas" up the left hand side. He managed to sneak through a hole that closed on me just before the steep hill, but I definitely made up some spots. I realized recently that my view of myself as "not good at technical courses" is sort of like my "I can't climb" thinking: believing it is making it true. So I made a point of attacking turns and forcing myself to hold wheels, and (holy crap!) I was not losing ground on the turny parts.

For most of the race, I was just ahead of or at the front of dysfunctional group that would string out here and there, but then come together in other spots. I was willing to stay on the front and do some extra work in the power sections, as I liked being near the front on the woodsy sections so I had my line of choice giving me a bit more confidence, but it did mean that I did a lot of work, and I noticed that my handling deteriorated somewhat on the last two laps.

At the end of the "two to go" lap, I made a bobble on the rooty turn at the far end of the field and another in the sand, and got passed by an ECV guy and one from Berlin Bicycle (Kyle Foley - thanks Cxresults!). I made a couple of efforts to come around Foley on the downhill fire road. They were a little half-hearted, though, as we were fast nearing the gravelly right hand turn into the little hairpin section off the fire road, and between needing to think about downshifting (the back half of the hairpin was uphill) and the fact that the right hander on the gravel was pretty sketchy, taking it too fast seemed like a bad idea. In hindsight, tripodding that turn would've allowed me to go faster while feeling like I could catch myself should my wheel wash out, but hindsight is 20/20.

Anyway, Foley apparently forgot to downshift, and got bogged down making the hairpin. I went into the back of him and had to unclip, then had to run up the uphill, and in the process a Newbury Comics guy (Nick Maggiore) and several others came around me. I buried myself to catch back onto that group, and washed out a little on the sandy turn in the woods, letting a Greenline Velo guy around. I managed to get close to him on field section, but couldn't close the gap down and finished 46th/70 starters (67 finishers).

That beat the race predictor by several spots, which is always my "very realistic" goal, but my "push yourself" goal was to get 40th or better. Had I taken the chance to get around Foley, thereby not getting hung up, it's very possible I would have met that higher bar, as Maggiore finished 39th. Lesson learned: sometimes you gotta take a few chances.

All told, though, I'm pretty happy with the day. Kudos to Quad for putting together a great course. Congrats to all who raced, especially Chris P for his great result and Chris B for a damn fine debut.

[rusto]

+1 on the "shifting before you need to" habit, one that finally seems to be sticking when I race. Helps so much.

[onegeardoug]

This weekend was the "Tale of Two Races". Yesterday sucked; today was much better. Let's just say: I love Quad Cross. This course was custom made for me...and Chris Pare. Lots of turns, some MTB-ish features. There were many "day of" registrations in Singlespeed, including Elites such as Mike Wissell and others that I don't know. I had a front-row start, but I'm thinking, "hum. stacked field, more points, but maybe have to recalibrate my expectations."

My goals for the day were to have a better day than yesterday, beat Rosie, and gauge my fitness against Rowell and Myette. I also knew that I had to moderate my first lap effort to stay out of the Cave. The whistle blew and I had another perfect clip-in and start. I purposely started "tamely" and quickly settled into 5th or 6th wheel and was riding alongside Abel for the first few turns. The usual suspects were up front, Rowell, Boivin, Rosie, Myette and maybe one more, and we strung out quite nicely before the sandpit. I sat on Rosie's wheel for most of the first lap, then went around. Lap 2, I sat on Myette's wheel for a while, then went around. Starting lap 3, I'm on the virtual podium in 3rd and thinking about the High & Mighty prize. The guy from Syracuse on a rigid MTB 29er with drop bars(Jeff Walker) that podium'ed yesterday was closing on me and I knew it was only a matter of time. He went by me with 2 to go, and I knew I couldn't hang on, so I chose to ride my own pace. Mike Rowell had made a move and was leading, with Curtis Boivin chasing. I entertained the idea of chasing down 3rd place and made an effort, but it wasn't to be. Mike Wissel was behind me in 5th, so I focused keeping the pace high, riding clean, and keeping the gap as large as possible to keep the door closed. Succeeded.

I rode a near perfect race, IMO, with no major mistakes. I was railing the turns, enjoying myself and moderated my effort nicely. My worst offense was trying to remount before the rise after the barriers. On the first lap I made it okay, but on second lap I was too tired to get clipped in and ride it clean. I gave up a few seconds trying to clip in and climb simultaneously. The remaining laps, I ran to the flatter portion to remount.

I finished 4th, ahead of Rosie, Myette and Wissel. Rowell had an amazing day, and rode clear of Curtis. I'm very happy with my effort and finished better than I expected. I promise not to complain about my fitness anymore.

[rusto]

Good to see you're rockin' again, Doug!

[Jacob]

Great job guys!

I ran my first 5K this morning: 21:38, 22nd place. I didn't dismount once!

[swawersik]

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid= ... =3&theater

Jeebus PJ, Get your elbow on the proper side of your saddle when you carry!

Like this:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid= ... =3&theater

Since I'm posting critiques of technique, I sure hope nobody got any pics of me double hopping on the remount. If there's no photo, it didn't happen, right?

[cbusick]

Since it was my first race I got to start in the last row of the 35+ 4s.
The guy to my right washed out on the first turn, making a terrible snapping sound that really disturbed me until I realized it was just one of the plastic stakes he'd snapped and not a leg or arm.

I was a little over-anxious to pass people in the first lap, and got jammed a couple times trying to pass where there really wasn't an option (like when snaking around the big threes on the way to the sand pit).
I was surprised at how many people I could pick off on that downhill double track in the woods. I was also amazed at how well my stock clinchers climbed those two dirt walls in the woods where people were spinning out. I nearly lost it on a pedal strike passing someone where the trail drops down onto a right turn onto the dirt road heading up to the pits, enough to get a comment from the guy I was overtaking.

I passed Russ on one of the dirt walls in the woods on the second lap with a "Hey Russ!"

I did well on the barriers and running in the sand, most of the time I managed to pass someone at each of those obstacles. (thanks Doug and Stefan for the great tips and coaching)
How's this Stefan? http://www.flickr.com/photos/62121616@N ... 1499430752

On the 4th lap I'd gotten to the point where I wasn't passing very many people anymore and was shifting into more of a hold them off type of game. I had no idea where I was in the race. All of the numbers around me were from the CAT 4 younger guys that had started a minute before me. I knew with my lap times I was going to cross the line under 40 minutes so figured we'd be doing a 5th lap. I'd never seen the lap cards people were talking about after the race, my only focus for the whole race was on chasing down the next guy and the next guy and.. so I had no idea I'd finished until they sent me off to the right after the line. Had I known I was actually on the last lap instead of one more to go...

-Chris



My family took some pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/62121616@N ... 499430752/

[rusto]

Photos:

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Full gallery

MRC members get their high rez files for free, just let me know which you want!

[PJ McQuade]

"Jeebus PJ, Get your elbow on the proper side of your saddle when you carry!"

Elbow? I'm just glad there's no picture of my dismount and remount on lap 1. UGLY stuff - I did my best Fred Flintstone, surrendering a few spots in the process. Other than that and a mediocre start I rode a clean race and slowly picked people off until the last lap. I had another lap in me and I think I would have caught the Quad rider in front of me for 20th had the race not been this short. I hadn't touched the cross' bike in 9 months so I coudln't have expected a whole lot more here. I agree with Doug and Chris - Quad is a sweet venue. In my top 3 I'd say. Great result from Chris P, who should be around the podium all season (Battling with the same cast of characters). Chris B, not a bad maiden voyage, you got the bug now? Russ, nice top 20 and great pics! Doug was Doug - it would be strange if he didn't grab a good result at this point. Good to see everyone out there.

[rusto]

Tiffany Remy's Cat 3 photo gallery