Charlotte NCCX #1

I put in a pretty big block of training last weekend until tuesday then wednesday a bunch of Cx'ers gathered for some drills/technique stuff at Owens field.  After my first race I needed to figure out how to get over the barriers at least at a slow jog.  That meant lots of reps over pvc barriers and I finally got to where I could do it consistently with a right foot only leap.  The downside of this was that I was super sore and stiff from all the training/running/jumping. My old body isn't used to this... at all. This would be a problem still on the weekend even with 2 days of total rest.

Due to having the time and possibly just stupidity I signed up for two races on Saturday.  First the 45+ Cat 1,2,3 at 11:30am and then later the 35+ Cat. 3 at 1:30pm.  Being old means I get lots of choices as to what races I want to do.  Also cross racers hate mornings so there are no 8am starts like in road racing so I was able to leave the house at a reasonable hour. That was very nice.

45+ Cat 1,2,3

After sortof just rolling around the Spartanburg race I wanted to really "race" this one so after the usual warmup I lined up ready to go hard (but my hamstrings and adductors were still pretty tweaked). As in road racing in NC there are old really, really fast guys in these races so I just wanted to just hang on as long as possible.  The course was more of a "cross" power course and very fast.  The trouble was that it was raining lightly and the ground was wet.

The start was uneventful, just fast and hard.  An immediate steep run up and I figured out how to shoulder my bike for the first time, that was fun.  A sand pit (my first time) that I mostly was able to ride every time. Fun.

I was running grifo's with latex tubes and went with a pressure that was for me on the edge.  F32/R35 and with wet grass it felt pretty good during the race.  On the first lap I did crash on a tight wet off camber turn, but lots of other people crashed there too.

The barriers I was able to do while running!  1000% improvement over last race. I had set my pvc practice barriers a little high by design so in the race they felt low and the spacing was perfect for a double right leg leap.  Hey, Fun!

The rest of the race was just trying to ride hard. Yeah, I suffered but I did pass some people along the way and then on the last lap but it was tough to tell who was in my race as they had 3 waves of groups all on the course at the same time.  People everywhere. I finished 21st out of 28.

35+ Cat 3

After the 1st race I was totally wiped, my legs were killing me and everything was tight and crampy.  I thought there would be no way I could do that again but I had already registered so I figured just line up and see what happens.  I stretched, drank a lot then put on a dry kit and instantly felt better.  I rode around for 15' then lined up for the 35+ race.

We were the last wave after the 35+ Cat 1,2 then the Cat 3's.  I was actually cramping a bit just standing there waiting for the start.  Not a good sign!  I lined up at the back and at the start was sort of jockeying with another guy to be dead last at the start. Haha.  I rode totally within myself and not following wheels and I started feeling better and better.  I started passing some guys and was really enjoying it.

After a few laps I was coming up a short fast climb on a turn and I felt my rear tire roll and then my latex tube blew which sounded like a gunshot.  I was able to roll to the pits where I picked up an extra bike I brought but the problem was this was an old mtb with flat pedals and about 4 workable gears. I actually use this bike to pull my kids trailer!  I rode for a while then pulled the plug as a lot of traffic was passing me and I didn't want to slow anyone down.  So DNF.

I think in retrospect that my latex tubes may have lost 1-2 psi since the morning filling so they were super low plus the grass had dried out and was very fast and grippy.  I should have put a little more air in before my 2nd race.  Lesson learned.

Handup report: took an oreo from a little girl and was offered a beer from Aaron Trent but he wanted to hand me a glass bottle, in the sand pit...Newbie.

Results:

Pre-Reg results