Finally raced Gloucester for the first time EVAH!
Has been a tough CX season so far - imploded both derailleurs in the first 30 seconds of racing at Quad CX 123 and had only managed to race once since near DC while traveling for interviews on a borrowed aluminum Trek on a 95* day managing 11th in the P123 field (out of 11).
Needless to say, I was hoping for a different result with less bike destruction and less lastness at Day 2 of Gloucester in the Men's Cat 3 field. The day started a bit on a down note as Emily tried racing again for the first time since her crash on the road and was doing GREAT before being dive-bombed by a couple juniors stampeding through the women's field, causing her to bail for fear of getting injured again. Really agree with her criticism of pairing fast juniors (with lots of heart and ability, but less than an abundance of caution) with the beginner women, who are some of the least experienced cyclists trying their hand at a challenging sport. She rebounded well afterward and rode increasingly strong practice laps between later races, but it didn't feel like a good sign of things to come.
Then came the moment I noticed there were guys in my field who had numbers in the 90s! I suddenly realized my bib #150 was going to mean a start well toward the back of the pack. In these huge fields (mine had 124 prereg'd), the start is critical to having any chance of landing in the points. Still, the day was beautiful, my legs felt good somehow (despite working a week of 13h night shifts leading up the race), and I was handling the bike better than I had in a while I think thanks to more CX specific coursework at rock-creek park, the Greenways and other local trail systems. The gun went and we shot up the first hill on the road then around a sharp right, a left, and an off camber right hander in the dirt leading to the first run-up. Total chaos. 5 million people all around. I avoided a couple tangles, crashes, and slow downs largely by running from the first stair section through the first barriers and then around the next two corners before remounting. After that it was a battle of chasing onto the group in front of me one at a time only to watch each collection of 3s implode in its own way while I somehow found a little more gas to chase down the next crew.
One aspect of this course that suited me well was a pretty clear demarcation between a turney, technical section on which I could recover some and then a pedally stretch requiring some consistent watts. I made most of my gains on the power sections during which I caught groups who seemed to have settled down a bit and then just tried to keep it smooth through the corners and not crash or lose time.
Specific features on Day Two worth noting were the run-up off the water. Whereas Day One involved a stone staircase that required running from the promenade to the top of the cliffs, Sundays run-up was almost entirely rideable requiring only a quick dismount at the top to get over a pair of stairs. Otherwise, two sets of stairs and a set of barriers meant that each lap required four dismounts/remounts. Have to say I thought the course was really fun and beautiful.
In the end, somehow managed to chase down a ton of the dudes who started in front of me including some guys who routinely beat me (Mike Morse, Dan McCabe though he had a mechanical right after trying to pass me and deliver a death blow on the last lap run-up) to finish 14th out of about 90 finishers. Considering how far back I started, I think this was actually one of my better finishes, like, EVAH!
Overall impression: Do this race - such a beautiful venue, very well run, course awesome, awesome vibe and vendors
Some other of my details:
Tires - Challenge Griffo Pro Tubular 33mm
Presshah - 24lbs front 26lbs rear
Bike - 2007 Bianchi Cross Concept mostly Ultegra/Dura Ace with Paul Mini Moto Brakes and Egg Beatahs
