October 9 - 10, 2004 by Phil Esempio
I made the long trek down to Cincinatti this past weekend to do 3 'cross races: The Barnyard Dash Cyclocross on Saturday, in Loveland, OH (Masters 35+); and the Bio-Wheels Harbin Park UCI Category 2 Cyclocross in Fairfield, where I entered both the B Men Open race (Category 2 - 4) and the Masters 35+ race (what the hell, I was already down there...).
Saturday's race was a bit of a mess. The course was 1.5 miles of grass, gravel roads, and some woodland trails. I pre-rode it for 3 laps, and it didn't seem too bad, except that it was very, very bumpy - especially the grassy parts. It was very difficult to keep the bike planted, especially considering that my 'cross rig is all oversized aluminum, including the fork. I kept my tire pressures low - 45 rear, 40 front - to try to take some of the edge off of the course. After the C men and B women did their races, the B men and Masters men (both 35+ and 45+) lined up in the staging area. Everyone was already grumbling at the line about just how bumpy the course was; it really suited a mountain bike more than a cross rig. And then, about 5 minutes before start time, it starts to rain. Nothing heavy - just a light but steady mist (good Belgian 'cross weather!). This, however, changed the entire complexion of the course.
First of all, it appears that the grass was freshly mowed. I found this out becuase, after just one lap, when I went to run across the barriers for the second time, my front wheel refused to move when I set it down on the other side of the barriers. Turns out, the brakes and rim were choked with wet grass clippings. I had to stop 3 times during a 45 minute race to clear this crud out. Also, alot of the turns on the gravel roads became quite sketchy once they got a little wet. I finished 6th, but that's not saying much - there were only about 10 in the 35+ field. My back was mauled from the bumpy course as well. I averaged just over 11 mph for 45 minutes; considering how flat the course was, it should have been faster, but the grass sections were a major obstacle in and of themselves.
The next day was much better. This was a UCI Category 2 race, so the course was well set up. It was 1.75 miles long, with a few interesting tweaks. First of all, UCI rules only allow one set of man-made barriers in a course now, so they decided to put the barrier on a slight uphill grade. This meant that you couldn't immediately remount - you had to run up the hill a little ways to get enough momentum to get a flying start again. Then, after the barrier, there were two sand pits. The first wasn't too bad - it was one side of a beach volleyball court - and as long as you hit it fast and straight on, no problem powering through it. The second pit, however, was longer and deeper than the first, and required some skill to ride through. After the second sand pit was a long climb up a grassy hill, some twisting off-camber grassy turns, then a high-speed descent into the woods onto some hard-packed single track. There was a nasty little mud hole just past the halfway point of the woods section, followed by a steady climb out of the woods, then some more twisty grass stuff. I opted for slightly higher pressures than the prior day for the first race - 55 rear, 50 front - since from what I was hearing the course was pretty smooth, and a quick pre-ride lap bore that out as true.
I was doing two races here - the B Men open, at noon, and the Masters 35+ race, at 1:00 PM. The field on the B Men Open race was big - over 30. We started right behind the Elite UCI Women, and the speed of the course strung out the field pretty quick. It took me a while to find my rhythym, but soon I was cruising along nicely. During the first race, I rode the first sand pit but dismounted and ran the second one, after I saw several riders go down in it. The climb was rideable, but at the top got a little steep, such that my low gear of 38x25 seemed a bit oversized by the end of the race. There was plenty of traction on this course, even on the off-camber grassy turns. Towards the end of the race, I backed off a bit, since no one was catchable in front of me, and there was no one right behind me either. I finished 23rd at 11.3 mph, not bad for running in a field of Cat 2 and 3 racers.
The second race was a bit tougher. I was the only rider doing both races, and I had only 10 minutes in between races to clean the sand off of my chain, relube it, gulp down 2 gels, drink up some water, change jerseys (I had a second one set up with my Masters bib number), add a little pressure to my tires (I went up to 60 rear, 55 front), and get back to the line. We went off right on time, a total of about 50 or so riders in both 35+ and 45+. My legs felt like they were full of concrete when I first dismounted to run over the barriers. For the first two laps, all I could think of was quitting. Then I settled down, and started to pick up speeed. On my second lap through the sand pits, I decided to tackle the second sand pit. Betweend the two races, one of the B riders told me that the second sand pit was rideable, if you could find a rut. I carried as much speed as I could through the corner before it, got out of the saddle and spun up to about 120 rpm....and powered through the pit, throwing sand everywhere. After that, I was able to blow through that pit on every lap, no problem.
On the very last lap, a rider tried to pass me in this second sand pit. I didn't know if he was a 35+ or 45+ racer (turns out he was a 35+, and racing against me), but I didn't care - I wasn't going to let him beat me! He ran through the pit while I rode it, and he actually came out of it before me, but then tripped on the lip of it and went down on the ground in front of me. I just missed running over his Zipp carbon wheels by about 2 inches, and accelerated away from him. Going up the hill, he passed me again, but he seemed really gassed, and coming through the grassy turns I started to close in on him; my technique was much more fluid than his. I gave it everything I had on the descent into the single track, and was only a few feet behind him going into the uphill 180° turn before the mud hole. He gained some ground going up this hill, but I pressed him, closing the gap back up to about 10 meters...and as he went down into the mud hole, he tried to finesse it, crossing it at an angle to deny me the best line. Next thing I know, the bike kicks out from under him, and he's sliding off into the woods on his side! I gave a quick "You alright?" as I passed, he nodded and said yes, and I was gone up the hill. I never saw him again, and crossed the finish line alone, in 20th place among the Masters 35+. My speed was very similar to the first race - 11.1 mph, not bad considering it was my second race of the day.
All in all, good training for the upcoming Bike Authority 'cross series. I feel pretty good the next day, which I used as a rest day, and now I'm looking forward to the first race of the Bike Authority series Vermillion in two weeks on October 24th, where I'll be racing in the "B" division. Until then, I'll be practicing my dismounts and flying remounts...
Phil Esempio