Cyclocross Race
#4
Sunday, Oct. 10,
2012
On the Bosque,
SW of Albuquerque
When I saw that
Race #4 was at the Bosque, I knew what lay ahead. I remembered it well from
Kirk racing it last year. About half of the race venues have a distinctive feature
which makes them very memorable. The Pojoaque Wellness Center has the uneven
rock stairs. The Bosque race features a very steep, loose sandy and rocky
run-up. I remember standing at the top of it last year with Reyna, urging
racers on, bikes on their backs as they ran up. Yeah, I knew exactly what we
were in for.
I thought this
was going to be our first really cold morning, but it wasn’t so bad and warmed
up pretty quickly with the sun. We got to the Bosque with plenty of time to
pre-ride most of the course, and what little I didn’t preview was a known entity:
the run-up. No question as to the best strategy to tackle that one with!
The bulk of the
course consisted of powder sand reminiscent of Polk Elementary and hard packed
dirt. The sand on the Bosque was in the trees and generally not as deep as
Polk, making them pretty navigable. The laps were long, though.
After the
juniors, it was my turn. Many of the usual gals didn’t make it, so all three
groups were small. To my interest, however, US mountain bike champ Nina Baum
was there to race in the Cat. 1/2/3 women. (To read a brief bio on Nina, click
here: http://notubesracing.com/womenselite/index.php/team-members/nina-baum/) Although I knew I’d be left in the dust
(literally!) I would have loved to ride behind her, watching, trying to copy,
trying to follow her line. My only real hope was not to have her lap me in my
first go ’round!
I decided to try
to take off stronger than I usually do, and was all revved up to really race.
It seemed a course where I might have some advantage as the sand was ride-able,
and I’m pretty steady and faster than many on a run-up. The masters 50 women
only had three takers so, as we lined up, Kirk hollered out that we all looked
good for a podium spot. I didn’t recognize one of the women, and the other was
Sheila, who always takes the first, so I figured I had a good shot at the
silver.
We took off, and
I pedaled hard down the short packed straightaway holding my own while Sheila
took off ahead of us. Taking a left turn we hit the first bit of shallow sand.
Snaking right, then left, a right hander took us in a u-turn around a single very
large tree under which lay some of the deepest sand, littered with sticks and
leaves. On the first turn around the tree, my rear wheel went out from under me
so much that I had to put a foot down.
Resuming, I saw the other rider in my group pulling away, and I pedaled
hard to catch her. A little hard pack let me gain some momentum before I hit
more sand. In some places there was a clear line showing where the sand wasn’t
as deep or was more passable; in others the many grooves in the sand made it
clear there was no “best line” to take.
Making my way through I hit another easier patch and put on a bit more
speed again, still in my quest to catch and overtake the other woman.
More deeper sand
heading into the maze of trees and whomp! No warning, I’m flying over the
handlebars. I don’t remember anything – it happened so fast – I don’t remember how I landed, or getting up – but I
recall a couple ladies behind me, passing me asking if I’m okay. I’m trying to
figure out why my bike won’t move, why the front wheel is stuck. I’m about to
throw it on my shoulder for my first ever run to the pit when I noticed a very
short, thick stick barely sticking out from between the rim and the fork. I
wiggled it out, and was relieved to find nothing more was amiss.
I jumped back
on, but felt like the wind was knocked out of my sails. Now every bit of sand
seemed harder to navigate, the winding through the trees was slow and I just
knew short thick sticks lurked everywhere under all that sand. I was determined
to simply finish, but I didn’t really want to finish last. Yet every time I had
to put a foot down, or my back tire went out I wondered what the heck I was
bothering for. It was a drag, and I spent the rest of the first lap trying to
muster up some enthusiasm. Passing the pit on the first side took me out to a
challenging 90-degree hard right up a sandy berm to a left turn into a sandy
roll-down – the first part of that sequence was much more challenging than the
roll-down which looked tenuous but was very manageable.
That led to
something of an anomaly in ‘cross: a long straight length of packed dirt.
Another left turn back down a mild slope led back into more sand, more
switchbacks and more trees. Passing the far side of the pit to a u-turn around
another tree brought some sand respite with a bit of packed dirt and emergence
from the trees. Yay! No more sticks.
 |
| Heading around the second tree. |
A right turn
took us onto the last sandy stretch, and probably the most challenging. (On my
last lap I saw one of the Cat 1/2 ladies slow considerably into that sandy
right turn, which made me feel better. It’s not just me that slows down a lot
heading onto the sand. When I talked to her later, she said she’d had two hard
get-offs and, by the time I saw her, was proceeding with caution.)
Back to my first
lap, I had a rough time on that last bit of sand. I was still out of sorts from
my tuck-and-roll, and instead of struggling through the turns got off and
rolled the bike a bit. I wasn’t racing any more, so what the heck. Glad I did
so: I looked down, and saw an 18” long piece of heavy steel waiting to cause an
accident. I picked it up – it was heavy – and threw it off the course. From
that last sand strip it was pretty much all hard-pack past the run up, into a
u-turn, down a sandy but manageable descent and back to the foot of the run up.
I didn’t bother to run up it, at least the first time. I shouldered the bike,
and kept moving but didn’t hoof it. At the top I remounted on gravel, and a mild
down slope set you at the top of what, for me, was the most unnerving sandy
descent. I rode it every time, and from there it was hard pack straightaway to
the start/finish line to start Lap 2.
On lap 2 I
gained a bit more confidence, and decided I really didn't want to finish last.
Where comfortable, I tried to increase some power and speed. I rode all the
sand under the trees, got a bit more of a feel for the dicey parts, and must’ve
made up some time (even running up the run-up this time) as by lap 3 I passed a
few Cat. 4 riders. I too got passed by Nina and several other Cat. 1/2 ladies –
so I knew I would only be doing 3 laps total. That worked for me! Tove passed
me heading into the last stretch of sand, so I stayed as close on her wheel as
I could, and she called some tips as we rode: put a foot down here in the turn
and throw the bike around it, then keep riding; take the outside line coming
out of the sand there. It was awesome.
I did in fact
avoid coming in last, but couldn’t exactly say I’d had a fun race.
Back at the
truck I changed into civilian clothing so I could pit for the guys. Meanwhile,
the Cat. 1/2/3 guys were racing. Like the women’s race, it included a notable: Travis
Brown, an inductee into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 2006 was there to
race (see http://www.mtnbikehalloffame.com/page.cfm?pageid=6&memberid=156).
More or less on
time the guys lined up to start: Kirk, David, Chip (one of SpinDoc’s ‘cross converts,
out for his third race), and Peter, a friend of Tove and Jerry’s trying his
hand for the first time. Randy, one of Albuquerque’s racers, was there, and we
met a young man named Andrew who was racing under his employer’s kit, BTI (one
of the biggest US distributors of bike parts who happens to be here in Santa Fe,
and a frequent stop on the SpinDoc errand route). Tove and I headed to the pit
nestled in the trees and sand as soon as the guys took off. Kirk and his chief
competitor, a guy named Jimmy, simply duked it out for the first half of the
race. Neck and neck, they pushed each other, but Jimmy finally got a bit of
advantage on a switch back through the sand. It was fun to watch all the racers
and cheer them on; I cheer everyone I know, and many I don’t. It’s such a help
when you’re out there!
 |
| Tove heckling the guys: Kirk nearest Tove, then Chip and David |
At one point
David was heading towards the pit calling that he had a flat. I’d been holding
Kirk’s “B” bike, and in the smaller-than-usual pit had to find a spot to
quickly put it down and grab my Breezer hardtail for David. He’d never done a
hand-off yet did a pretty quick transition. Meanwhile, I had help getting his
rear wheel off and putting the spare wheel on, and then pumping the one that
came off to see if the sealant inside could fix the flat. At the same time, I
continued to watch for Kirk if needed to pit. When David came back around, we
had his cross bike ready for him to switch back to. That run-up was painful
with a mountain bike! He was happy but surprised to be able to jump back on and
finish on his cross bike.
 |
| Jimmy chasing Kirk 'round the second tree in powder dirt |
All the while,
Kirk had continued to gain on Jimmy again. He went from a 25 second gap to a 17
second gap and, by the time they crossed the finish line, Tove said it was a 9
second gap. Wow. That’s a hellova ride!
Chip and Peter
had a good race, and ended up in a sprint against each other for the finish. We
thought Peter was gonna get it, but Chip put his head down and crossed first.
It was fun to watch. I think they both had fun – at least when we saw them,
they were both grinning.
But then that’s
cross!
No comments:
Post a Comment