Plymouth Festival of Cyclocross
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2012 11:17 pm
Arrived around an hour and a half from the start of the race. It was a beautiful sunny day, though a bit too cold for my liking. While waiting for the start whistle, I started to chat with a member of the Bayhill Capital team. He was a fellow junior who, as it turns out, had gotten second at Canton Cup. I was, admittedly, a bit surprised at the very existence of our conversation, as I had the notion that anyone who podiumed in any cycling race would 1) not want to associate himself with a lowly pawn such as myself, and 2) not even bother talking anyways, as doing so would waste precious energy needed for the race ahead. But I digress.
I started midpack, but, during the sprint, pulled too hard on the pedals, causing a cleat to disengage. A multitude of riders passed me as I quickly tried to clip back in. By the time I was back up to speed, I had lost around 10-15 places, and was in the last quarter of the pack. I managed to pass a few riders in the opening corners, but they quickly caught back up again. Keeping up with the pack, I expended way too much energy on this first lap, and would consequently bleed positions throughout the race (among the riders who would later pass me was a boy who couldn’t have been older than twelve. I sucked up my pride and labored on).
Throughout the race I had trouble with multiple sections, most particularly with a steep forest hill with a mud pit at the top and a 180 degree gravel turn. More often than not I would run up the hill and through the mud due to a lack of momentum for my tire treads to create friction. On my second lap, in an attempt to remount right after the climb to shave some time, I got bogged down in the mud and took a tumble. Luckily, nothing but some extra mud stains resulted from this. As for the gravel turn, the first time I encountered it during a practice lap, my front wheel slid out from under me, causing a minor traffic jam for the riders behind. Not wanting for a repeat of this, I took this corner at a snail’s pace during the race. It probably would have been faster for me to run through the corner considering how slow I went.
During the third lap, my left foot suddenly unclipped. Try as I might, the thing just wouldn’t go back in. After the race, I would learn that the cleat had totally detached itself from the shoe, screws and all, and had become stuck in the pedal (after a bit of fiddling at home, I managed to free the cleat, though not without the help of a very large wrench). That same lap, my cleats would again give me angst when the right cleat refused to unclip while I approached the barriers. It wasn’t until after I had come to a complete stop inches from the first barrier that my foot came loose.
To top off this week’s RR, I had a finish-line sprint to avoid getting lapped by another rider who had tailed me for the final sections of the course. Miraculously, I won the bout, though I suspect that the other rider eased off on the pedals halfway through. Ultimately I placed 67th out of 73, which I think is actually statistically worse than my previous last place finishes in fields of 4 and 6, but hey, I’m not complaining.
I started midpack, but, during the sprint, pulled too hard on the pedals, causing a cleat to disengage. A multitude of riders passed me as I quickly tried to clip back in. By the time I was back up to speed, I had lost around 10-15 places, and was in the last quarter of the pack. I managed to pass a few riders in the opening corners, but they quickly caught back up again. Keeping up with the pack, I expended way too much energy on this first lap, and would consequently bleed positions throughout the race (among the riders who would later pass me was a boy who couldn’t have been older than twelve. I sucked up my pride and labored on).
Throughout the race I had trouble with multiple sections, most particularly with a steep forest hill with a mud pit at the top and a 180 degree gravel turn. More often than not I would run up the hill and through the mud due to a lack of momentum for my tire treads to create friction. On my second lap, in an attempt to remount right after the climb to shave some time, I got bogged down in the mud and took a tumble. Luckily, nothing but some extra mud stains resulted from this. As for the gravel turn, the first time I encountered it during a practice lap, my front wheel slid out from under me, causing a minor traffic jam for the riders behind. Not wanting for a repeat of this, I took this corner at a snail’s pace during the race. It probably would have been faster for me to run through the corner considering how slow I went.
During the third lap, my left foot suddenly unclipped. Try as I might, the thing just wouldn’t go back in. After the race, I would learn that the cleat had totally detached itself from the shoe, screws and all, and had become stuck in the pedal (after a bit of fiddling at home, I managed to free the cleat, though not without the help of a very large wrench). That same lap, my cleats would again give me angst when the right cleat refused to unclip while I approached the barriers. It wasn’t until after I had come to a complete stop inches from the first barrier that my foot came loose.
To top off this week’s RR, I had a finish-line sprint to avoid getting lapped by another rider who had tailed me for the final sections of the course. Miraculously, I won the bout, though I suspect that the other rider eased off on the pedals halfway through. Ultimately I placed 67th out of 73, which I think is actually statistically worse than my previous last place finishes in fields of 4 and 6, but hey, I’m not complaining.