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Lower Huron CX |
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Written by Michael Green
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Tuesday, 03 November 2009 |
2009 Lower Huron CX Race
Tailwind CX Series #4
Presented by Tailwind Enterprises
Belleville, MI
Sunday, October 18, 2009
 A week of rain and the thought of muddy conditions was the expectations of race #4 of the Tailwind Cyclo-Cross Series. Yet, because the race site was on the up and down the valley walls and across the flood plain of the Huron river, drainage had been rapid leaving a fast course on a bright and sunny Sunday afternoon.
My starts had been poor so far this season, so I’d spent some extra time since the last race focusing on clipping in and sprinting, making my best effort NOT to get left behind in this race. I got a good position in the coral and awaited the whistle. It worked…….I found myself third into the first roped off section of the course, riding with the leaders, the favorites and wondering to myself “now what”.
 We came to the first barriers, which lead into a 360 degree corner in a sand pit. Of course, an obstacle that everyone ran through, but for some reason the pace slowed, as if the hole shot winner wanted someone else to set the pace “not me” I mumbled, I was already in a new place, I didn’t want too many first experiences in one day?! The rest of the lap was fairly predictable; a selection had been made in the race: the lead group with all the usual suspects, plus me, and “the rest”. Needless to say, I am typically fighting with “the rest” but today I had made the front group and gapped the others.
Lap 2 was a different matter, the pace quickened substantially, as it always appears to do as pain flows through your brain and you start to question why you bother with ‘cross anyway. But this was actually a pace increase, and as I was already in the pain locker already, I found myself slipping off the back, into fifth, and on my own – into no man’s land.
 The beauty of ‘cross is that if you are working to maintain a position, as I was currently, you can see the competition behind you at certain portions of the course, and unfortunately, this is what I found myself doing – managing my race position instead of simply racing and seeing if I could regain contact. But, then again at the time, it seemed like the logical tactic. Then I felt a little more “squish” in my rear tire than I usually do “a flat?” I continued racing, trying to put the extra bounce out of my mind and focus on the race “perhaps I hit a stick?” But alas, it wasn’t a stick, it was a flat. As I came off of the dirt, and onto a paved section, I felt the sidewall give WAY too much and there was my confirmation, I had to swap out my bike…the pit up ahead.
I do bring two Chili’s to races, my race bike tuned for speed, and my training bike, built for….well training. This was the first time I had ridden the two back to back: one with tubbies, and one with clinchers; one with SRAM Red, and one with SRAM Rival…I think you get the picture. I never thought the three plus pounds would, or could, make that much difference, but my lap times sure showed it. Typically, my lap times are pretty consistent but there was a clear drop off in lap times today, after the bike change. However, my exchange went very smoothly no loss of position, just a few seconds lost. The remaining laps were very uneventful, mostly filled with comments to myself, like “WOW, I love that bike” and “she sure took this corner better”, but mostly, because I felt slower, I found myself “managing” my position even more, and wrestling with my training bike on sections I felt I should be faster.
I finished the race fifth, at least I thought so, until I found out that a mechanical had removed one of the lead group during the race, giving me a fourth on the podium by default. The much needed points for the series places me tied for fifth position. Next up, the “Devil’s Soup Bowl” in Ann Arbor.
Michael
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