It's been a wild beginning of the year. After Nationals, I flew home for a few days with the kids and some SpinDoc hours. In the four days home I taught four classes, worked two days (more or less) at the shop, did a walk/run with Lauren, took a stretch/tone class, took down and packed away all the holiday decorations at the house, and actually had some hanging out time with the younger two. Friends and customers Beth and Knute Kovach were kind enough to drive me to the airport Wednesday morning, which started in style with Beth's birthday and a split of champagne (not for Knute, the designated driver). At the airport I followed a tip I got from them about Black Mesa's green chili quiche. It was very, very good. I recommend it.
I got in to Louisville Wed. night; it was a balmy 45 degrees. . . and raining. It had started raining some time Tuesday night, and the rains had intermittently been torrential. Kirk had ridden a lap of the course that afternoon, then rode the bike to the drive thru car wash (a heated water car wash, no less!). It was an absolute mud fest. Different mud than New Mexico -- very slick, soupy, watered down -- Kirk says when you rode through you could turn around and watch your tracks fill back in, like thick pancake batter.
On Thursday, Kirk's qualifying race was at 10:10; he was in the second heat of 40 racers in the 50-54 age category. Their seeding for the day was done on a lottery, literally reaching into a paper bag and pulling a number. Kirk scored 354, which placed him in the third position in the front row of his heat. Steve Tilford, the Nationals winner, was in the row behind him. Jerry's advise was "when you passes, just jump on his wheel and hold on!" It was 45 degrees when we arrived and parked. We got Kirk set up on the trainer, and I pulled on my wellies and got ready to do pit duties. It was interesting to have new responsibilities; usually I've been able to suss out the course, figure out vantage points, etc.
This time, being in the pit, I first had to figure out how to get there, then I had to make inquiries of how the course ran so I knew which side of the pit Kirk would pass first. Folks riding cyclocross tend to be very friendly and willing to share info, unlike road racers who seem to seek advantage in not sharing information. The guy next to me who laid out the course for me has been riding cross for a while, was racing later himself, and joked about training rides he's done with Tilford and the Nationals silver medalist, Kevin. He was nice, and quite helpful. The first heat was already racing, so I had some time to watch the race, suss stuff out, and walk to the end of the pit area where neutral tech support was available in a pop up, two guys industriously working on bikes inside, and beyond that where several high pressure washer hoses were set up.
Looking back at the pit from the wash area; the SRAM vehicle and red tent are neutral tech support; beyond that, the red fenced area is the pit.
High pressure washers set up for pit use only. The one I used, unfortunately, had little pressure.
I walked back to where I'd left Kirk's "pit bike," which is Tove's much loved Colnago. Once back, I intently watched riders coming in and how the transitions where handled. One guy would hand off the bike and try to give his racer --or his bike, I couldn't tell which -- a push, which was a disaster. The rider would try to jump on his bike, and miss, and end up on the back wheel. He would yell at his pit guy, "Don't do that!" Then the guy did it again! Hmm. I also watched as the race rep who was in charge of the pit measured tire width with this little gadget, whistled as racers entered the pit, and racers violated one rule or another. After the first heat ended, some racer was in the pit which a cut on his shin, heading into hypothermia, very disoriented, as people tried to get him to strip his wet clothes, find his bike, but most importantly lead him to the medical tent. He was in no life threatening danger, so mostly it was interesting (not nerve-wracking) to watch.
Next I know, the whistle goes off for Kirk's heat. From the pit, I could see only marginal sections of the course, and quickly figured out where to watch before a pit entrance so I knew if he might come in. He'd planned to change between laps two and three figuring that mud would have heaped up on the bike. Nonetheless, I was ready with the bike each time he came through just in case something changed. It was slow going. . . it looked like the guys were riding in slo mo, yet you knew they were riding as hard as they could. After they left payment, they hit mud which basically never relented. There was a man-made ramp (unlike Bend last year, this one was stairs up and a ride down), after which they circled around and made their first pass past the pit; from there they circled around again, left pit view, jumped a few barriers I never saw, and eventually made the second pass by the pit. From there, they headed toward the start finish which included serpentines up and down a hill side, which two days ago had been fully ridable. Now, everyone had to run the entire section, which consisted of three slippery off camber run ups into switchbacks taking them back down. Kirk said the mud was soft enough that instead of being slippery, he could dig his heels in to make his way down. But it was a lot of running.
Sure enough, as planned, at the second pit pass at the second lap Kirk came in; I was ready for him, making sure the right pedal was in the power position, holding the saddle with the right hand, ready to catch his cast off bike with my left. . .the only thing I hadn't remember to check was the gearing. I learned later that it was geared a little high and was hard to for him to get going. I hadn't even thought off that! Darn. I won't forget again. Regardless, though, I got kudos from some guy for a neat pit exchange, which was nice for my first attempt. Once off, I quickly took the Lapierre to the pressure sprayer to get it cleaned off for another trade off if needed. I was a little nervous as each of the two sprayers had several folks in line, and I knew I had only about a third of a lap before he'd make the first pit pass on the third lap. I got the bike as clean as I could with the lack of pressure, concentrating on the drive train, pedals and brakes. Once back in the pit, and sure that Kirk hadn't passed again, I borrowed a brush and water bucket to do a little more cleaning, taking my gloves off to pull long strings of grass from the cassette, chain rings and derailleur. It was cold, but I was pretty warm other than my toes. It started to rain lightly about half way through the race, and continued until the end. The temp was dropping . . .by the time the race ended the temp had already dropped to 39.
Kirk passed the pit the last time, so I wheeled the bike out, watched the ascent and descents along the hill line, then headed for the truck.
Couldn't get it to focus in the distance, but you can see the standing water. . .and beyond this was the serpentine section up and down the hills, off camber.
Kirk had a great ride, although very taxing. I ended up trying to help push some cars out of the mud, then taking the Lapierre for a more complete wash while I waited for Kirk. Turns out he was at the top of the park in line with co-racers, as they hosed their bikes, then each other, after the race conclusion. The laps were taking so much longer than planned, the race planners opted to cut qualifying/seeding races to two laps instead of the three the 50-54 rode. . .at about 15 minutes per lap.
Changed, dry and warm, we took off to get some brunch, watching the temp drop and the snow start. By nighttime it was 22 and had snowed all day with minimal accumulation.
Initially Kirk thought he had not qualified for the championship race, having missed it by 7 places. Turns out that wasn't the case -- he's in and races on Saturday. His race seeded him to start in position 54 -- quite a coincidental position since his seeding race number was 354. With an overnight low of about 17 on Thursday night, we knew the course would changed dramatically. We drove by today; the mud ruts were all frozen. The course director/planner was there, and we watched as a small backhoe dropped frozen dirt into a pick up to distribute onto the course to make it safer. They also have shortened the course since each lap took so long. Pretty crazy stuff.
Wow. Kirk is riding in Cyclocross Worlds. With folks from Japan, and Poland, and England, and Canada. And all over the world. That's pretty cool.
Today I tried to get him fed, keep him off his feet, and have an nice low key day. Tomorrow the weather will be much like today, with a frozen rutted course. . .but we stopped to get a bucket and additional washing brushes for me to have in the pit anyhow. We've both got multiple layers of clothing out to wear, his new championship race numbers are pinned to his jersey, and we're ready for his final race of the season. Cold or warm, wet or dry, the race goes on. Such is cyclocross!
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