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Maine Cyclocross Weekend |
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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by Steve Morse
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Wednesday, 10 October 2007 |
Maine Cyclocross Weekend
October 6-7, 2007
Biddeford, ME and New Gloucester, ME
 | | Photo courtesy of Maine Cycling Club |
Saturday was the Casco Bay Cyclocross race in Biddeford, ME. It was not your typical day for a a cross race, the forcast temp. was high 70's but in reality the temp shot up to the mid 80's. I had pre-registered for the Elite 123 race, but some lower back and neck pain made me rethink that descision as we left our lovely hotel in Old Orchard Beach that morning. I opted to just do the B race, see how I felt there, and hopefully save something for Sunday's Elite Masters race.
Upon arriving, settling in, changing my reg, and kitting up, I prerode the course in Rotary Park. It was really quite an unremarkable course layout. There was some fast, twisting, grassy downhill, then mostly big open dirt roads (with a decent climb) and a lame sand pit that you had to make a hard right turn into. Usually I would say "this is my kind of course", but today I just wasn't feeling it. A lot of that would have to do with the hot weather, which I have finally figured out does not work for me in cross season; some of it was due to the aforementioned back pain. Whatever - it's time to race!
The start was really stupid - the wide field of racers had to sprint into a tiny little road entrance between two metal posts, only a few hundred feet away. So naturally this proved to be a big bottle neck, and I got stuck behind it. Strike one for me.
I tried like heck to get the big engine going but I just couldnt find any rythym. The heat really started to get to me, and about 15 minutes in, I could feel my body shutting down. I think I made a huge mistake and didn't pre-hydrate enough. Now, this is usually the point in the race where I can start to move up in the field quickly, but it just wasn't happening today. In fact, people were passing me. Sorry buddy, no power this time. My eyes felt like they were sinking back into my head and everything started getting hazy. Strike 2.
I went into damage control mode, just wanted to finish the race without overheating too badly or messing myself up for the next day. I managed to pull back a few people on the last lap and started to feel a little better at the end, good enough to outsprint one guy on the open road section. Placed about half way down the results - not good for me, especially in a B race, but it was too hot, so whatever. Blame it on the Nordic heritage.
Sunday proved to be some type of redemption up at the Downeast CX at Pinelands Farm, about 40 minutes away from the OOB Roach Motel. The temps were much cooler this day, and the course was much more to my liking. Lots of hi speed technical, semi-difficult off camber, and some short punchy climbs, with some newly added, short grass maze areas. If you were a mountain biker this equalled FUN. The course designer added in a sweet, loamy, long runup that had everybody talking during the compulsory bench racing sessions. The important thing was that I felt 100 times better than the day before, and as I was warming up, I knew today would be a completely different animal. I really needed it to be...
The elite masters field lined up. Looked like about 30 or 35 guys when you totaled up all the age groups. We go off. We sprinted down an extended paved starting section, which was good because there was plenty-o-time for it to string out before we hit the rough stuff. The engine was feeling really good and I stayed in probably the top 15 going into the first woods section. I surprised myself and actually kept the lead group in sight for most of the 1st lap. I kept getting glimpses of Big Al's backside, so I knew I must be doing OK. Matt Hersey and I traded spots for most of the race, it seemed that I would put a gap on him on the long power sections, and he would quickly catch back up in anything technical. Anyway, it seemed to work to keep riding with him, as we picked off a few more spots together. On the last lap, I noticed a few more guys had caught up to Matt, so I knew I had to get away from this group that was forming before a finishing sprint, that I knew I'd probably lose. Out of the saddle as much as I could, I muscled the cranks on the power sections to open a small gap. I put in a few seconds on these guys, but I could still see Matt coming. I railed the final few technical sections and the barriers before the finish and preserved 9th place. So, a good finish to a 50/50 weekend for me. Time to try and recover before the "New England World's" up in Gloucester, MA next weekend.
Steve
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; "Photo courtesy of Maine Cycling Club")
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