Christmas Cross & the Rapha Festive 500

Summary:
Ride 60 miles from home with a tail wind & fresh legs
Race 50 mins cyclocross
Ride 60 miles back home with a head wind & tired legs

Report:
Each year, Strava issues a challenge to ride 500km in the 8 days between 24-Dec and New Year.  This year marks my 4th attempt, having completed it successfully in 2011 and 2013.  It's a great motivation to get out of the house and ride some "base miles" to offset the customary calorific intake of the holiday season.

I love riding my bike but I always prefer to have a destination and purpose to the trip instead of making an arbitrary circular route.  Participating in the Festive 500 makes me eager to find excuses for riding to destinations and Christmas Cross organized by the Kentuckiana Cyclocross series seemed like a perfect fit, a cross race about 60 miles from home with a start time of 2pm on Sunday 28 Dec.

To avoid getting a chill after the ride down and the race, I needed changes of clothes and shoes.  This was too much to fit in a back pack and riding for 7-8 hours with a weight on my back was an unpleasant prospect so I elected to use my Bob-Yak trailer.  This also meant I had the capability to hail a set of cross wheels and ride some faster rolling tires there & back.  With that, the plan was formed.

Ready for the road, trailer with cross race wheels & dry clothes

It took me 3 hours 40 mins to ride there with a tail wind & fresh legs (not a great combination, I struggled to stay warm enough).  I got to the race venue in Charlestown with time to register, change into race kit, remove the bottle cages and fit my cross wheels.

Bottle Cages off, Race wheels on...

The race was a small affair but with a high standard, people making final preparation for Nationals.  My legs were a bit shocked with the aggressive demands at the start and I found myself dead last early in the first lap.  The muddy course demanded plenty of running and as I warmed up, I started passing people again.  With one to go, I had no chance of making up another place so was happy to ride out the final lap, but the accumulated mud on my bike had other plans - my rear derailleur seized up, ripped off the mount and got stuck in the rear wheel.  I ran the final quarter lap already wondering how I was going to get home.

Rear mech damage after the race

The cyclocross community proved (again) that it is just that, a community.  I was offered various rides home, however I was still set on riding back if possible.  I managed to get a replacement mech hanger from John Gatch, got a complete tool set to use and was able to repair the damage, ready to hit the road after the podium.

Repairs complete, ready for the ride home

Podium
John Gatch (4th), Mike McShane (3rd), Andy Messer (1st), John Card, (2nd) Tim Proctor (5th)

The ride home was about 75% in the dark and the wind hadn't dropped or changed direction so it was largely a head wind.  Just short of Seymour I picked up a flat on the rear wheel.  Fortunately, I had my cross wheels on the trailer, so it was a quick change to get up and running again.  My ride home took just over 4 hours, given the head wind, tired legs and wheel change I was pretty happy.

I'm always amazed when I manage to get from A to B (and back again) simply with the power of my body.  Strava estimates I burned 5,500 kcal over the day, but I burned no gasoline!

Strava data for the day (via Garmin Edge 500):
Ride to the race
Race (finished 5th overall)
Ride home

Cross is here - OVCX Race 1 - Brookside - 14 Sept 2014 - Race Report

Elite Men - 11th place overall; 4th place Masters 35+ - Strava Data via Garmin Edge

In the Pain Cave... Photo Credit - Kent Baumgardt

The first race of the OVCX championship is always a big event, there were over 500 people racing bikes in one or more categories throughout the day.  The first race location rotates between the regular venues and this year, Brookside hosted the start of the season.  The warm weather and sunshine was a strange experience as traditionally this event has been towards the end of the season and last year fell in mid-December as the finale.  Gone were the snow and icy mud, multiple layers, embrocation cream and danger of frost bite, exchanged for a dusty dry course and the need for sun screen!  The Brookside steps, a broken, uneven climb remained as the one constant, menacing reminder of past encounters.

The Brookside Steps - Photo Credit - Kent Baungardt

There was a good representation from the Bicycle Station team and as I arrived, with Jake and Amanda Virostko, team mates Jeff Fetterer and Dylan Wick were already on the course in the Cat 3 race.  I was able to pre-ride a lap with Jake between races and then watch the 50+ and Elite Junior field, had another ride around the course before warming up properly on the trainer whilst the Women's 1/2/3 race took place.

Calm Before the Storm - Photo Credit - Kent Baungardt

The Elite Men's race had a strong field and as I lined up on the 2nd row of the grid behind Spencer Petrov, I knew that it would be a good day if I broke into the top 10 after 60 minutes of racing.

The start was a brutally long pavement sprint up an increasing gradient and as usual it was explosive right from the whistle.  My improved starting for this year definitely helped, but I still found myself being swamped as the field galloped away from the start.  With the long grade taxing everyones legs I managed to regain quite a few places before we jumped onto the grass and headed to the first off camber right hand bend.  About a third of the way into the first lap, a spectator yelled out that the group I was with was "top 15".  It was a relief to know I wasn't further down the field and I could still see most of the lead group as we completed the first lap and in particular a group of 4 riders about 10 secs ahead of me included Eric Anderson, Rob Kendall and Freddy Rose - all racers that normally beat me so I knew if I could stay in sight of them I would be at least be pleased with my performance.

At 60 minutes, the race has the chance to develop some real phases of action, as opposed to being just a mad dash.  For me this race was in 3 parts, at first, I was shocked at the pace, and effort required to stay with the people around me.  This lasted about 3 of the 10 laps making me wonder how I was ever going to last the rest of the time.

Phase 1 - Wondering how I'm going to hold on for 60 mins - Photo Credit - Kent Baungardt

The second phase was marked by people around me and ahead of me who had gone out too hard starting to fade and drop back, my pace didn't change much but I started to feel more in control of things and started to believe I could hold the effort through the end of the race.  It's around this time that they start counting down laps - whilst cyclocross is a time limit race, after the first laps are complete, the officials assess the pace of the leader & determine the number of laps to complete the race at or around the target duration.  When you're already feeling exhausted, it's psychologically tough to see "5 to go" and this is definitely a factor in people starting to crash.  Rob Kendal had a really bad lap (with "5 to go") and he dropped off the Anderson / Rose group, I caught & passed him.  Normally in a race like this, that's it - you fade and there's no coming back so I was pretty amazed to find Rob coming back by me a lap later and then start to ride back up to the group ahead.

This marked the start of the 3rd & final phase of the race for me - I tried as hard as I could to go with Rob and whilst I didn't "stick on his wheel" he did help me pull up to the group of Rose, Anderson and Kendall.  This final part was really about believing I could chase and race with this group of riders that I've previously considered "untouchables" - out of my league.  It became clear that Eric Anderson was fading as Freddy and Rob kept the pressure on with 2 to go.  I was riding on my own but catching up, the frequent switchbacks providing excellent visual cues to judge the time gap.

With 1 to go, it's all or nothing, time to ramp up the effort for the final lap.  I caught & passed Eric Anderson (first time ever in a cross race) about a third of the way into the final lap and had my eyes on Freddy Rose, continuing to close the gap.  Through a slow technical section before the high speed finish to the lap I got off line lapping a slower rider and that opened up the gap too much, Freddy made a very clean and fast run through the barriers for the final time and whilst I made a ceremonial sprint on the pavement section, he was too far ahead to think about catching before the line.

I wound up 11th overall (just as I thought, tough to break into the top 10) but with some encouraging signs from my performance. It was also great to get the first race over - I know that my preparation hadn't been ideal and the fact had been weighing on my mind.  Racing for 60 minutes with some of the best riders in the mid West is a pretty daunting proposition but with the race done, it's somewhat off the pedestal I had built for it - sure it's hard, but I can do it and be happy with the results.  This is the start of "racing to get stronger" for me, I need to build up the volume and intensity of my training during the week and make a conscious plan for some peak in performance vs just training through the whole season.

Here are my race diary notes:

OVCX#1 - Brookside - 14-Sept-2014 dry, rain on Thursday - muddy in a couple of places - tacky, not slippy

A bike - Boone

Tufo Flexus Primus 30psi F&R - glued 12-Sept 2014 (new glue after Lionheart CX)
Last years wheels
PDM-540 pedals worked well
Really powerful brakes - some pulsing from glue on the rim?
Di2 worked well

Saddle is a bit bent after crash at Lionheart CX

 

B bike - Crockett
Tufo dry plus 30psi F&R - glued 06-Sept-2014
New China wheels
Left pedal better - cleaned & lubed since last race
Brakes not great - didn't ride, can't comment if there is any improvement but no changes made since last week

Pre-ride - rode 1 lap at 12:45; rode 2 laps at 1:45; half a lap at 2:45; Race start 3:00pm

Race - grid 13th - middle of 2nd row - behind Dillman (I think) - 60 min race

Start - quite good - but still felt like I got swamped in the initial dash from the line.  Managed to pass significant people on the way up the paved hill (long, long drag to the grass).

First couple of laps two people came past me, could still see the Knapp group ahead and Kendall / Rose / Anderson stayed within sight (10-15 secs ahead)

Middle of the race, felt OK - people started coming back to me - the Kendall / Rose / Anderson group stayed in sight - race data showed I was matching them lap for lap.

Kendall had a bad lap & I passed him, but he recovered & bridged back up to Rose / Anderson

Anderson started to fade & dropped off the group, I took time on him with 1 to go & passed on the final lap

Psychological barrier of racing with & passing Anderson, like Messer last year.

Felt good, final lap was faster than average lap time.

Got baulked by Cat 3 lapped rider on the last turn before the fast run to the barriers.  May have been able to catch Freddy Rose if that hadn't happened.

Cross is Coming... Lionheart CX Race Report

It's the night before the first Cross race in the OVCX championship and I know I've not prepared the way I had planned.  A sinus infection, antibiotics and a hectic work & social schedule combined to limit the time I have spent on the bike ahead of the first race.

However, not deterred by this and in a vain attempt to over compensate, I had a two race Sunday last weekend.  In the morning, I joined Quaff ON! team mates Jane Moisica and Danny Fisher at Tri32 Indy, an Olympic distance triathlon, where we had been challenged by two teams representing Tatum's Bags of Fun.  In the afternoon I took part in Lionheart CX, a non-OVCX cross race organized as a fundraiser for the Lionheart youth development program in Cincinnati.

Lionheart CX - Men's cat 1/2/3 Race - p20 overall; p9 35+ masters - Strava Data (partial)

This was a pre-season Cyclocross race and a great chance to refresh in my mind everything about racing and to check out my new Trek Boone cross bike in a real race ahead of the OVCX championship.

We drove to Cincinnati as a family and I was dropped off at the race venue, Kings CX, with my two bikes and race kit whilst they all went to Ikea - on the drive over, I realized I hadn't picked up my helmet so the first job after registration was to find someone that could lend me one for my race... not an auspicious start.  Fortunately, the friendly faces of Ty and Lilly Peck were there and Lilly loaned me her helmet so I was good to race!

Last season a consistent weakness was my starts and I'd been practicing them at home - I checked out the start and found a similar stretch of grass and made a couple of practice runs, after the Time Trial in the morning, my legs definitely felt heavy but I was pleased that I still felt pretty strong.

I was staged 7th on the front row of 9 racers with a total field of about 40, at the whistle I buried it with my head down and was surprised to see only one person ahead of me, Spencer Petrov who is really in a class of his own.  This was shortly followed by arriving at the first corner a lot faster than any of my practice laps, my bike handling skills got an abrupt wake up as Spencer proceeded to ride away from the rest of us.

Over the first lap, 2 or 3 people came past me including John Gatch who had only just finished racing the Masters race - this was a bit of a relief as I could follow some lines from more experienced racers.  I settled into about 5th place feeling pretty comfortable with the effort to hold this position, but as we entered a right hand bend on the 3rd lap I found myself suddenly on the floor rolling with my bike bouncing beside me, I had no idea what had happened.  When I got back to my feet, the wheels on my bike wouldn't rotate and I realized that both front and rear tires had rolled off the rim, since it wouldn't roll I had to shoulder it for the long run to the pits for my spare bike.  We hadn't long passed the pits so I had just about a half a lap, 0.7 miles, to run with my bike, people continually passing me - most offered some encouragement for my predicament.  When I reached the pit, Ty Peck already had my spare bike (Trek Crocket)  ready for a fast hand over and I was able to quickly jump on and start chasing back into the race.  There was no way I was going to make it to the front again, so this was now a hard training effort - I rode the sand pit every lap although it was faster to run it.  As a new rider became visible ahead of me, I focused on chasing them down & passing as quickly as I could.

In the end I finished 20th overall and 9th in the 40+ Masters category which was still satisfying since I'd been almost dead last after the tires came off.

After the race I was grateful for the advice of John Gatch, long time cyclocrosser who recommends re-gluing tires each season - the tires that failed were glued last year and when I looked at the rims it was clear that a season of cross with repeated cleaning & cold weather had made the glue brittle where it failed.

It was good to have tested everything about racing cross before the championship races started I'd learned the following:

• Remember your helmet!
• Check out the first corners at full-on race speed
• Re-glue tires before the season starts

Here's my race diary notes from the event:

Lionheart CX - Sun 07-Sept-2014 - dry hard pack, dusty, some wind

A bike - Boone
Tufo Flexus Primus 25psi F&R - glued Sept 2013
Last years wheels
PDM-540 pedals worked well
Really powerful brakes
Di2 worked well

B bike - Crockett
Tufo dry plus 30psi F&R - glued 06-Sept-2014
New China wheels
Left pedal hard to enter
Brakes not great

Race - Call up #7 - front row (grid x 9)

Forgot helmet, Lilly loaned me gets. Ty Peck, Lilly and her mum helped me out with somewhere to hang out whilst Clare went to Ikea.
Great start 2nd behind Spencer Petrov
Dropped to 5th by time I wrecked - Petrov - ?? - Freddie Rose - John Gatch
Wind picked up from the camels towards the club house
Wrecked 2.5 laps
Rode 4 laps on B bike
Garmin didn't work all the time
LH pedal on B bike needs to be loser