SpinDoc: December 3,4 2011 Cyclocross in NM, TX

Greetings, Snow Bunnies (or is that Snow Bicyclists?)!

It's true, Jonathon and Kirk went for a snowy Dale Ball ride yesterday. Riding in snow is not unlike wet grass, or sticky mud, or deep sand. It saps your legs pretty quickly and provides quite the workout. Prettier, though, than any of those alternatives.

Jonathon in the Snow; Wednesday, Dec. 7

To keep your tootsies toasty on those cold weather rides, come in for a pair of Pearl Izumi wind barrier over-shoe booties. They are fleece lined shoe covers designed to pull on over your mountain bike shoes or your road shoes. When you come in, make sure you grab the right style as they differ. Jonathon's toes were quite cold after the above ride, so Santa is putting a pair of these in his stocking. Don't tell him that, though!

HOLIDAY HOURS: RETAIL and INDOOR CYCLING

SpinDoc's retail hours will adhere to our existing schedule, even on Saturday, Dec. 24th for all you last minute shoppers (we will be open from 10 AM to 4 PM that day). Remember to shop locally and bring your business to your small local shops instead of big box stores or online sellers.

Bruce will present a special class on Wednesday, Dec. 21st at 6:00 PM featuring, in his own inimitable style, a playlist of holiday music. I am unsure if he is providing the eggnog or not. Jonathon's new class on Thursday evenings, 6:00 PM, will also be chock full of holiday tunes on Dec. 22nd.

The class schedule will remain the same, too, except Christmas Day, Sunday, Dec. 25th there will be NO CLASS and

on Monday, Dec. 26th there will be ONE CLASS ONLY, at 10:00 AM. Saturday, Dec. 24th classes will run at 9:00 AM and 10:00 AM as usual. Tuesday, Dec. 27th returns to full class scheduling.

The following week for New Years, there will be NO CLASS on Sunday, January 1st. Classes on Monday, Jan. 2nd resume full schedule, including the 6 AM class.

If you are unsure about a class, call SpinDoc at 466-4181.

CYCLOCROSS RACE REPORT

The season is quickly wrapping up, but not before lots of mud was to be had. Mud is an imperative component in 'cross. Kirk, shop buddy Sean, and I left SpinDoc mid-afternoon on Friday, Dec. 2nd thinking we'd be heading south (Saturday's race was in Las Cruces) and therefore away from the anticipated snow storm. By Socorro it was snowing steadily; by T or C we were slowed to 45 MPH, unable to see the lines on the road, and amazed at the snow coverage on the ground. We only saw one vehicle off the road, but didn't want to add to those numbers. Finally the snow turned to rain as we continued south, and it was raining steadily as we pulled in to Las Cruces.

I am unsure when the rain stopped in the night, but we woke to clear skies and very wet ground. It was quite chilly as we loaded ourselves into the truck to drive to the race venue, a large field of weeds. it wasn't as goat head laden as last year, and the course was only slightly different. We'd gotten my race time wrong, but to our advantage the organizers were running a full hour late as they'd had to redo part of the course due to the rain. if I had to guess, they rearranged the course to include the puddles and mud bogs scattered around the field. My shoes had been left at the hotel, but Tove helped me scout out a loaner pair of someone riding the race after mine. (Thanks again, Sara!) An extra pair of socks took up the extra space, and we did a pre-ride of the course. It consisted mostly of snaking back and forth across the field with lots of switchbacks and turns (but none were very tight). The course passed through every puddle or bit of wet, muddy grass possible. The first was the deepest; riding the right side of the switchback took you through a deep puddle of brown water that had holes and bumps not visible from above. I hit those a few times but managed to ride through on my fat tires; Tove, however, did a full face plant on her first loop, right into the deepest part of the water. She said all that was lacking was her rubber ducky.

This was a hard, hard ride for me. My legs felt like lead pipes instead of bones. I was quickly left behind, but reminded myself I was riding my own ride. My goal was to not get passed by the lead rider until I'd finished my first lap, and I didn't get passed until half way through my second lap. The temp was dropping noticeably, and my toes where frozen in spite of sweating. I kept trying to catch a guy in front of me, but just didn't have it. I wasn't sorry when the leader passed me a second time right as I approached the start/finish, and was called out as done. I don't know how many laps I did; I find I completely lose track as I'm just focused on riding. Maybe four, maybe five. The leaders in my group rode 6.

The masters rode next. I unfortunately was in the truck changing out of wet clothing and missed the excitement at the start of their race. No one is sure what happened, but a first row rider fell as the race started, and those behind him couldn't avoid literally riding over him. We didn't hear stories of horrible injuries later, so I assume the guy was okay. Those folks rode hard, flying around the field and through the mud. Kirk's Lapierre lost use of the back brakes, so a fast pit stop put him on the Redline to finish the ride. Not suited up with the same tires as the Lapierre, he took a spill on the one u-turn around a cone on concrete. He was back on the bike so fast that if one hadn't watched it, one would not have known he'd gone down. I didn't get as muddy as the others simply because I didn't ride it as fast as they did, plus the course gets muddier as more bikes ride over the course and break up the weedy overgrowth. Kirk, Tove, Jerry and Sean all were covered with mud by the end.

We stopped by a car wash after lunch to hose off the bikes.

There simply CAN'T be two more laps!

Kirk, looking a little muddy, coming in to the barriers

Tove, Sean and Kirk, post-race

Even muddier from behind!

How Tove and Jerry spend their free time

Washing off the bikes at the car wash

After showers and what not, we reconvened at La Posta, the one restaurant recommended to us by several people. The food was good (but not great), and we had a fun, lively dinner with Tove, Jerry, Sean and some friends of his.

Sunday's race was in El Paso, so by 8:30 we were on the road. The race venue was a lovely city park that include lots of built-in landscape features promising lots of climbing. I was happy to be on my mountain bike as the course would have been even more challenging on a cross bike. As it was, I was apprehensive as we set out for the pre-ride. And, like the night cross course, I suspect there were some features included that wouldn't really get the approval of the national cyclocross head honchos. From the start/finish, one immediately rode up a hill, down the other side, over two small whoop-de-doos to take a 90 degree right and head up a blacktop walking path. That little climb was in many ways the most taxing part of the course as one had just come off that initial starting climb on the grass. Once at the top, a right turn took one to a recovery stretch, circling back around and riding down three wide concrete steps. Not long after that was a steep loose descent -- very steep -- at the bottom of which one took a large swooping u-turn to ride back to the bottom and run back up the hill next to where one had just ridden down. (The more experienced racers took a slightly different route, which I would have tried had I known. Since this part of the course wasn't delineated on both sides, they rode further to the left and to a less steep lower section, enabling them to stay on the bikes much longer and run up a much shorter distance.) At the top of the hill a short flat ride took one to the two barriers. They were of different heights, which was awkward, and immediately after them were four rough, narrow stone steps dropping off to an off-camber hill side. That was certainly the trickiest part of the course, and the one place a junior rider suffered an injury (potential broken thumb). I took my time through that section, that's for certain. The lower part of the course snaked back and forth through large trees, sometimes on hard packed dirt, sometimes on loose powdery dirt, sometimes over tree roots, sometimes around gopher holes. Suddenly you came up to a sharp narrow hard right leading onto a stone bridge. After crossing the bridge, you rode down and around to the left, jumped another barrier, and then ran under the bridge; the highest part of the arch was probably 5 ft. I don't think anyone smacked their heads, but it was certainly a possibility that someone would. From there a ride up/run up lead to the start/finish.

I went first with my group, and discovered at the start line that I was the only Cat 3/4 woman starting at all. That meant that all I had to do was finish to win! Cool! I worked hard, riding as hard and steady as I could, taking off with the group (my goal for the day was not being left behind at the start) and not getting passed by the leader until half way through my second lap. The hill descent was unnerving, but I took it with as much speed as I could, and pushed the Breezer up the other side (I didn't shoulder the bike as is the 'cross method -- a mountain bike is a little heavy for that). At the top I didn't clip in as I knew the barriers where right around the bend, and took my time crossing 'em and stepping down the four stone stairs. The lower part was great for practicing my turns/switchbacks and getting some recovery. The sharp turn onto the bridge was very challenging; by the fourth and fifth laps I was mostly making it, deflecting the left wall with a hand. On my last lap I made it without any hands. Whew.

The masters race was next, and Kirk was riding the Redline, his pit bike, with the Breezer as the pinch-hit pit bike for the race. All had a good, strong ride. The Redline went the distance, so the Breezer stayed in the pit the whole race.