Three is a Magic Number

My third go at racing marked the first time I actually managed to show up with enough time to properly warm up and prepare.I went to sleep at a reasonable hour on Saturday night, with my race bag packed and ready to and the coffee maker set to greet me with a freshly brewed pot when I awoke at 6 am.

I ate a small bowl of oatmeal, took my vitamins, and had a few cups of coffee before heading to Richmond Park in Grand Rapids in time to arrive at least one and half hours before the race was scheduled to begin.

During the drive, I sipped about 20 ounces of a sport drink I hadn’t tried before: TwinLabs Endurance Fuel. It tasted neither great nor terrible, but appeared to provide more than just carbohydrates and electrolytes, so I figured it was worth a try.

When I arrived at the park, the course setup was still being completed, and registration wasn’t set up yet, so I took the opportunity to ride the course alone.

I took my first lap very slowly, giving myself time to warm up while I paid close attention to the terrain, but I could tell my tires were going to be too hard. Some of the course rough and rooted, and too high a pressure would sap my energy quickly, and I was concerned that a hard tire would provide poor traction on the some of the sharp turns along the dirt descents. I didn’t want them too soft, though, as there was a fast concrete stretch about halfway through the course where I wanted to be sure to gain some speed, and I wanted to be sure to avoid a pinch flat.

I brought the tires down to about 28psi for the second lap, and while I definitely enjoyed improved traction and reduced impact, the tires now felt sluggish and bouncy, and threatened to pull away from the rim on the faster corners.

After the second lap, I changed the pressure to 35psi and took another, faster lap around the course. The pressure felt right on, hugging the corners and solid on the faster sections.

I’d figured out some good lines for most of the course, and was getting comfortable taking the hairpins with little or no braking.

So at this point there was really only one main problem area for me, which was a long, but ride-able climb that was made more challenging by the presence of 3 logs, about 6 inches in diameter about 1/3 of the way into the climb, after which the hill was off-camber, with the bike on the high side. There were a few different ways I could handle this.

I could run over the logs and try to remount immediately after the obstacles, but the camber made this tricky. I could move the other side of the bike, but this wouldn’t always be possible if other riders were around. I could try to remount anyway, but I wasn’t confident that I wouldn’t just roll backward down the hill or fall and tumble down the side of the hill. I could also stay off the bike until the hill flattened out, which would make the run about 3 times as long, and would be slower, but might save time in the end by removing my struggle to remount the bike. Another option was to just hop or roll over the logs, which I’d done during a practice lap without out much trouble. The logs were small, smooth, and round, and my tire pressure was low enough to soak up some of the impact if I just pedaled right into them. I probably should have spent some time at that section of the course trying out the various options to get a feel for what worked best, but I felt I had enough options that I could get through it without a major catastrophe.

With only 20 minutes to the start, I finished a second bottle of Endurance Fuel, had a Gu Roctane gel, and headed to the start area, hoping to get closer to the front than I had at previous races.

Kisscross organizer Rick Plite began calling riders to the line, and I worked my way to the second row – I probably could have squeezed up front, but I wasn’t sure how my acceleration would compare with the other riders at the front of the pack. After some general information and instructions, all of which I managed to hear this time, we were off. I managed to fall into fourth place before the first turn, and though I felt another rider close upon me, I was able to keep them off until I passed the rider ahead of me, but I was soon passed by two riders as I struggled to remount after the logs.

I exchanged places with a few riders during the next lap, and was overtaken by an extremely fast rider who clearly belonged in at least the Bs, if not the As. I’m not sure how he ended up placing, but he had the fitness of an experienced racing cyclist and seemed to come from nowhere. But as I entered the third lap I was slightly amazed that I was still in the top 20, much less in the sixth place position I currently held. The leaders were still in clear view, putting me about 25 or 30 seconds behind the front. Things remained stable through the first third of lap three - I didn’t make up any time, but was comfortably holding off the next group of riders, who appeared to be about 10-15 seconds back.

Unfortunately, a stupid mistake at the logs cost me my position and a lot of time. Tired of struggling to get back on the saddle after the obstacles, I opted to ride over them. The first two logs weren’t a problem, but I failed to downshift enough to gain momentum, and nearly fell as I came up on the third log. Now straddling the bike, only a third of the way up the hill, I was stuck, I couldn’t remount from the position I was in, and as I got off the bike and started running up the hill, I was overtaken by the riders behind me. By the time I got to the top of the hill, out of breath and frustrated, they were already as far ahead of me as they had been behind a few seconds earlier. I tried my best to catch up, but though the rutted climb and a series of tight corners that followed, I was able only to prevent my position from worsening.

The final lap (the C race was just 4 laps this time) went fine – I ran up the entire log hill, which sapped me for a few seconds, but I didn’t lose any time trying to figure out how to get back in the saddle. I had enough energy to hold my position through to the end. I rolled across the finish line thinking that I’d finished around tenth, which for me would be amazing.

As I pulled some warmer clothes and poured some coffee from my thermos, I watched the rest of the race, noting that there were at least 15-20 riders still on the field. I started to worry that I’d missed a lap, but when the results of the chip timing were posted, it showed that I’d finished all the laps, and had come in ninth!

While ninth place in a 4 lap, 30 minute C-level race might not seem like something so happy about, I was ecstatic. I’d set a goal of getting in the top 20, and set out to ignore the pain and suffering I’d endure to meet my goal. To have exceeded my intentions by so much was a huge thrill. Even if I’m unable to perform as well at next weekend’s race, placing in the top 10 at least showed me that I can improve, and that training and preparation actually do have an effect. It also showed me that had I spent a bit more time figuring out how to properly handle some of the problem areas, I could have possibly done even better.

So now what?

I need to keep up the training I'm doing between races, which includes running, riding intervals, and hill training. I also need to work running with the bike and cornering into my training schedule.

I need to lose some weight. I've lost 10-12 pounds since last winter, but it's not enough. I feel heavy when I run and when I'm getting on and off the bike, and I look fat in the race photos. Exactly how I'll do that remains to determined.

In the meantime, I have two more races to focus on, and then it's time to plan and train for spring.