Cross Border Clash~ Saturday

Working the barrier

It's not hugely problematic but the issue of non-standardized classes in cyclocross has me confused when it comes to registration day. At Mahon and Vanier I registered as Citizen Men. In the Cascade Series I registered as Men C for Cross Border Clash and Mens C Masters at Silver lake. I will be 40 in less than a month afterall.

My results are all over the place and I'm not sure if it's time to move up a category. At Vanier I placed 9th. At Silver Lake I placed 3rd. At Mahon I placed 2nd and at Cross Border Clash I placed 1st. 

Cross Border Class

Cascade Cross Series organizer, Ryan, called us up and divided us up, Canadians on the right and Americans on the left. The Americans had won the cup last year so it  gave them an advantage going into the first corner as it was a lefty. My wheel was on the line to start and when that blast went off I pinned it. Redlined my heart rate and made sure I was the first rider into that left hand hair pin. It worked. I came out of the hairpin and doubled back on the next hairpin, a righty. That was when I saw the mish mash of bikes and some serious congestion. It was me and one other rider out front. He sucked off my wheel for quite some time and made me work bloody hard. The true reason I went out hard was yet to come, the Flyover. If multiple bikes go into this thing together the results are another lot of congestion and then carrying your bike up the "stairs". Once over the flyover and through the halfway mark of this 3.2 km course, I started to widen the gap. I shouldered checked several times and didn't see anyone. Of course my mind had me convinced that someone was breathing heavy behind me, so I kept my head down and continued to push. With each lap I could tell I was increasing my lead.

Cascade Cross Series Flyover

Of course I'm thrilled with the success I'm having but when is it time to move up a category? This past weekend, as you can see from the results above, I was a good distance ahead of the rest of the pack at the finish. If you think about it, close to two minutes is quite a distance when you're on a bike. I don't want to seem arrogant by moving up a category prematurely. And I definitely don't want to continue racing in a category where I am riding alone. That's true sandbagging. And a bit assholish. 

When I finished the race on Saturday I apologized to race director and told him that I wasn't sure what category I should be riding in. I even thought about dropping out of the race at the mid point but that too would have been a disservice to the people I was racing. 

I'll have to make a decision before the next Cascade Series race, Thanks Given'r. I'm thinking I should race Men's B, but I don't know.

Mahon ~ Year Two

I'm so glad I registered on-line because had I not gotten the call-up for this one I'd have been starting at the back of the pack. The citizen men's class, the class I'm in, started at the same time as the cat. 3/4's. Not sure why they formatted it this way but it made for a nasty bottle neck and some screeching brakes going into the first tight lefty. It took an entire lap to catch my buddy who was only a bike length ahead of me at the start line. Thankfully it's acceptable to get those elbows up and grind folks in the corners. Some creative lines certainly were a benefit to my overall race.

I loved this course. Last year it was similar but with more muck and fewer tight switchbacks. The organizers pre-watered the existing mud pit to help it be nasty after all this dry weather we've been having and they did an amazing job of piecing together as many dismounts as possible, some straight-aways, sand, side hills and several steep, fast ups and downs and the all too enjoyable Shimano barrier set.

Marx socks carry me lightly over the barriers.

I felt fairly good out there as my control is improving in the tight corners and on the dismounts and remounts. Unfortunately I'm still lacking on the straights. Ain't got no spin.

In hot pursuit of Quadzilla. Thank god for my 40 psi decision.

Until next time...

October 23rd, Post Script:

Silver lake CX - 3rd 40 Year Old

A pair of bright, green Marx Conditioning socks rolled into Silver Lake at 9:10 for a 9:30 race start. Damn border! Either way, I pinned number 361 to my Salomon race jersey and it was a blast even if it took my heart rate from resting to red line in mere seconds. A mostly grass course weaved through single track, around a barn, over a couple barriers and was perfect under blue skies and cool temperatures.

Coming in as 3rd place 40 year old was the happiest part of my finish as I felt terrible to finish. Jelly legs and seriously munted lungs. Let's say I hacked a bit afterward. I loved it though. 

Until Mahon next week...

The boys and their post-race bevvies.

GO, CASCADE CROSS SERIES! Thank you.

Cascade Cross Series - Race #1 Silver Lake

Two weeks after Vanier and my bright, green Marx Conditioning socks are clean and ready to roll again. With a few changes this year, including tomorrow's venue and some class changes, I'm excited. There's nothing like a new venure. It's an adventure, right?

Silver Lake, Washington near Maple Falls en route to Baker from Sumas

The new classification has me a bit confused. I get it but last year I raced in the "C" class and things went fairly well. I didn't cream the entire field but I certainly held my own. This year however, classification reads as follows:
Categories below are self-seeding, meaning that you choose the best race for you based on your experience, speed, endurance, and equipment.
If you are sand-bagging (racing in too low of category), people will heckle you and you won't do it again.
If you race in too high of category, people will feel your pain. However, you can downgrade at the next race if necessary.
In general:

• C Racers are absolute beginners to cyclocross, even brand new to bike racing, or fitness is not really your thing, but you like to get fit by coming out & just racing! That's totally admirable - sweat your brains out. Or just participate & have fun, with low pressure!
• B Racers are people with some cyclocross racing under their belt & ready for a higher challenge, or experiencing success racing bikes in some other discipline (e.g. Road, XC, DH, BMX). Or maybe you're just a really good athlete! Cyclocross is different than other sports & even cycling disciplines, but it's also about anaerobic conditioning, mental fortitude, focus, & pure bike handling. Do you have those things? If you don't know, try Cs, then upgrade if you are seriously demolishing people out there.
• A Racers know if they are A Racers. You train hard & focus your life on this sport. Or you're a freak. Or both. Not for the faint of heart. Also, the races are long!

Remember, you can always race up! For example, if you are 50+ but should be racing As, race As! If you are a fast woman and want a longer, faster race, race with the A or B men! If you are fast junior and not feeling challenged in the C Men, race with the B Men!

 I'm pretty sure I'll end up in "B" class and that excites me. It's longer and it's harder. Both equal more fun.

Vanier CX-2013

So  I get the call up to start this 40 minutes of quad-searing hell and I'm right at the tape, a space I often believe is reserved for the speedsters. Only thing I was fast at was registering on line. That's what it takes to get the call up. Not being a speedster and having very little knowledge regarding my own biking abilities this year, I took off at GO!

Across the first flat I was out front. Through the first tight switchback, over the low barriers and up the stairs, I was still up front. I stayed out front and wondered when I'd get passed. I was perplexed. Had I gone the wrong way? What was happening? After the second set of barriers, which were rather high and positioned on an uphill, I backed off and a few riders went by. I immediately felt less out of place although the lung searing pain continued.

The course was in fabulous shape for my Schwalbe Racing Ralph's. A bit of superficial muck but mostly hard underneath for some fast rolling sections and tight, workable corners. All I thought about throughout was FUN! It was so much fun and I can't wait to do it again. It's very hard, I can't lie. I like working that hard, getting dirty and working away at finding the perfect line or doing the perfect dismount/remount. Not sure I'll get much faster but working at it is brilliant.

Super, tight windy sections not present in picture. BEWARE the Red Scary Stuff.

Last year was my first year and I truly enjoyed the Cascade Cross Series in the Bellingham area. October 12th is the first one of theirs that I'll be able to do and I'm very excited to get down there. Great time to stop off for a cheap six pack and a block of reasonably priced cheese.

WELL DONE WEST COAST RACING! VANIER WAS AMAZING...AGAIN. FINGERS CROSSED FOR PARK BOARD APPROVAL NEXT YEAR.

The Runner's Rats Nest

It took a few minutes to organize these memory medals for the photo but when I found them they were all twisted and wrapped around each other like ear buds; a rats nest. They certainly do not represent all the races of my past but each has it's sentimental little story and finding them today was fun. Finding $20 in my ski jacket would have been better but c'est la vie.

Looking through them now I see:

• 5 Knee Knacker Finishes
• 2 Meet Your Maker Finishes (1 a relay)
• 2 Momar Placings - 2nd and 3rd
• 3 Dirty Duo Placings - All 1st place mens relay
• 1 Squamish 50 Mile Finisher
• 1 Remembrance Day 8k -3rd place
• 2 1st half marathon
• 1 Okanagan Half Marathon
• 3 Victoria Half Marathon

Who knows what else is buried in the other drawers or lost in storage room boxes? I was glad to find these today and particular grateful for having not tossed them following race day.  I often have a difficult time finding a place to put them or the will to keep them. I'm not vain enough to frame them or hang them so they live in a drawer at my workplace. 

Do you have a rats nest? What do you do with yours?

I Met MY Maker on September 1st

World Class Trail in a World Class Location - Meet Your Maker (Whistler, BC)

Meet Your Maker 50 miler is an amazing event in brilliant terrain under management of the best in the business. They've spent themselves in creating an event of truly epic proportions. There's no place like Whistler and when the weather comes together with people of such caliber you can't avoid having one of the best days you've ever had. 

#1 In Your Hearts

It's three weeks later and I'm finally starting to forget the mental anguish I suffered after the 65 km mark. I hated every step of that beautiful rolling section. I cursed aloud as I delved deep into a mind numbing walk-run finish. Anything I climbed that day was hell but the thought of quitting never entered my mind. I know I was trained well and I know ate and drank well because my stomach was in good condition all day and I recovered within two days. Stairs were a non-issue by Monday night. I blame jet lag for a serious state of fatigue but still loved every moment. You runners know how it is to love something you hate momentarily. We covet some level of suffering and hurt. 

Without getting into the details of every turn, every step, every high and every low, I finished 84 km in 10:07 feeling overwhelmingly satisfied. That said, 50 miles is a long bloody way and is currently at the bottom of my "things to do soon" list. I won't be pinning a Meet Your Maker solo bib to my shorts anytime soon but would love to relay in 2014.

Darby Kai Standrick got me through large chunks of the day and I can't say thank you enough. It was a pleasure to run with someone in such a mentally strong place. It's just the beginning for her. Keep an eye that. She's an animal.

Perhaps the most inspiring and nerve racking portion of the day was waiting for James Marshal to finish. I've never know someone to want something so bad as James wanted to finish this thing. Rumors flew that he'd dropped up top but no such luck. He started down Blackcomb and was met by a bike bound Mike Murphy. Just the pick me up he needed to be prodded onward and coached in. Twitter was hard at work with the buzz of James Marshals arrival at the finish line. A little over 14 hours and he arrived. People screaming. His mom crying. Champagne in his hand. It was brilliant. What a fight!

GEAR OF THE DAY

Although I was kitted head to toe in amazing Salomon gear, the Salomon Sense Ultra exceeded all my expectations. The form fitted inner (Endofit) kept my foot snug and comfortable while the sole couldn't falter.  Light as bare feet for climbing and dancing through technical rocky sections and scrub, but also grippy enough and confidence building on the  rocky descents of Whistler.