Bloomer CX - 07

“A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done.”

- Vince Lombardi

I enjoyed my recovery time last week. I did a pedaling technique session on the trainer Thursday night, and spent an hour working on cyclocross skills on Saturday. By the end of my session on Saturday, I had figured out how to jump on my bike without hopping, but I'm still very inconsistent. The key for me turned out to be to not worry about what my right leg was doing, and think about jumping early off my left foot. I think I was a little thrown off by people saying that "you don't just jump on your bike" in cyclocross. That's true, you don't just jump on your bike, but you do jump on your bike.

Sunday was the Bloomer Park CX race. I had my new tires on, my new Rhino kit, and my newfound ability to jump on the bike. I was really cranked up Sunday morning and feeling good about the race. I got a good warm-up in. I immediately noticed that the new tires rolled much faster than my old ones, and I didn't have any issues with grip on the wet grass. My remounts weren't very good in the warm-up though; that's the problem with learning a new skill one day and trying to immediately apply it the next.

I lined up a little late on the line. I ended up in the second row but on the outside. I didn't get a good start, in large part, because the guy in front of me stalled on his start. As a result, I was way back (maybe 20th position) for a lot of the first lap. Back that far in the pack, you run into some suspect bike handlers. Guys are wiping out on corners that shouldn't be too hard and hitting their brakes all over the place. By the end of the first lap, Sarah said I was around 16th place, but still not too far out of touch from the lead group.

There was still a lot of traffic on the second lap. I was riding near a couple Rhinos, Rob and Brian (Brian did well to stay with us through the second lap, I think this was only his 2nd 'cross race). I might have picked up a few spots, but I wasn't really pushing yet, and the pack was finally starting to thin out.

At the start of the third lap, Sarah yelled out that Rob and I were catching the leader's group. Early in the third lap, Rob was starting to fade, and I eventually went around him at the barriers (I don't think I've ever beaten Rob before... I credit the tires). I spent most of the third lap trying to reel in the next group; I had also started pushing a little harder again. I probably passed a few more people on the third lap (it's hard to remember now).

I was pushing hard on the last lap too, trying to go hard enough to make up time, but not so hard that I blew up. I finally reeled in the guys that I was chasing. I passed one guy in a little technical bit after the velodrome hill, and then I was off to the little singletrack section. Still, he had slowed me up a little, so the two South Lyon Cycle guys I was chasing had a little gap again. I had a little mishap on the singletrack, I think I rolled over a rock or stick, and the back tire slid out a bit. I got my foot out and stayed upright, but I lost momentum. Even so, I had nearly caught the South Lyon riders. On the paved section near the end, I put it into my big ring and started cranking. I didn't really attack hard until we rode through the pavilion. I was definitely going faster, but the South Lyon guys were on the edge of the road to the left, and I couldn't get by. (Nothing wrong with that on their part, they don't have to get out of the way to let me beat them.) Ultimately, I badly misjudged the finish and attacked too late. I ended up finishing 10th (as usual), but probably within a second of being 8th. English Mark ended up 7th, but I didn't check the time gap he had on my group. Basically though, I was happy with my race.

So, here's the takeaway:

1. The Michelin Mud 2 tires are great. I wish I'd switched sooner. I'm really curious now about how much better tubulars would be. Maybe next year.


2. My remounts still weren't very good. I need to keep working on them until it becomes automatic. Time picked up there could have been the difference between 10th and 8th.


3. I was really happy with my cornering. I felt like I was picking up time on the more tehcnical parts of the course. I credit the Tuesday night practice for this.


4. Fitness is getting better (I'm sure the rest week helped!).