Once again, 'cross proved an uncompromising teacher.
New junior Chris Macleod discovered breakfast at 8:30 doesn't really last till 12:45, especially when you're racing at 12. That's the second race of the juniors affected by the bonk, with Alex underfuelling for Nanaimo. Anyone know how to do group text messages "Time to eat is now, whether you want to or not." , with a timer to send 2 hours before each race?
Duncan and Chris both rode well, but were a little too timid at the start, having to wait to climb the first muddy hill 40 metres after the start. That was worth almost 30 seconds right there. Also tough that the juniors have to race against the 20 and 30 somethings, just below elite level.
TS master Brad Head had 'Joey's alright #1 ' moment at the hurdle, his left foot not clipping out, meaning his right stepped through while the left stayed back on his bike and put him face first into the hurdle. Not the kind of knock-out punch Brad was hoping for but thankfully no real damage except to his pride. I saw him from across one of the many switchbacks and I'm not sure if he was laughing or cursing, but he was making noise so I guessed he was ok.
Speaking of laughing and cursing in the same race... I had a good start, in the top 5, and only gradually lost a few places places before Jamie Emery came blowing by after a crash, so fast he sucked the air out of my lungs. (That's what I'm blaming anyway.). Then another dude from Comox, but a little more gently, so I jumped on him and lo and behold Jamie came back into view. My Comox leadout started to fade, so I got across to Jamie. I thought I'd try to stick with him for a bit, as much to see how he does the course, as he's one of the guys to beat in my age category. After about half a lap, I'm starting to recover, and thinking, shall I throw caution to the wind and try to pass? My hurdles were working well (thanks to Brad's reminder) to unclip the left first and ride the instep), so I carried a little more speed into the hurdle, passed Jamie, remounted pretty well, but found myself on the inside into a hairpin which Jamie promptly used to, err, remove my options.
Ok, time to have a re-think. Almost a whole lap goes my, the women's leader Dawn goes by, and Jamie manages to hold on to her wheel, and me to him. I'm really recovered by now. Jamie's making the odd small mistake leading me to think he's not got too much more. My teeth are pretty liberally coated in mud, but that's better than wind in the face, right? I'm replaying the course in my mind as we approach the 1 to go. Where to go by? Hill? Jamie's lighter than me. Fast bit? He's cornering slightly better, and I can see me washing out trying to go too fast around a corner. (I'm good when it's straight and flat or downhill.
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As we approach the the start finish line with 1 to go (at least in my mind it was), Jamie jumps, and I'm thinking he's going by the women's leader to make it hard for me to pass her to get back to him. So I respond, and jump hard at the line, into the first hill right after. All of a sudden Dawn and Jamie slow suddenly, and I plow into them, and knock them both over. I'm scrambling to pull my bike out of the wreckage and Jamie and Dawn are saying "it's over". I look around and the leaders are all standing around talking.
Turns out the jump was the sprint; they shortened the race from what they said at the start by a lap, and forgot ring the 1 lap to go gong. I didn't look for lap cards either, (I'm blaming the mud in my eyes from following Jamie around) so mea culpa. Dang though, I wanted to have at least one go before it was over. Next time.
In my race Norm had a slow start, but got his mojo working and reeled in quite a few folks. He thinks he’ll need a trainer to get thoroughly warmed up for starts.
In the elite race, Gavin had ‘Joey’s alright’ moment #2, here, about 2:28
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7O7efg--O0 Major raspberry skin courtesy of a tree stump that joined forces with a deep and slippery mud puddle and teased him into trying a little stump grinding. But nothing worse, thankfully.
Other stuff learned: if you run in the sand, your cleats can clog and it's hard to clip back in. If you don't and ride the sand, it can go sideways very easily, be slower, and you can lose more time. Also, riding sand can clog the front derailleur, which it did to mine and I only had the big ring for half the race.
Transfer beach is a beautiful spot. There's a grassy amphitheater with a beautiful view south-east to Thetis and Saltspring.
