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Seattle Cyclocross Series #5 |
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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by Joel Liefke
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Saturday, 28 October 2006 |
Seattle Cyclocross Series - Race #5
Valley View Middle School – Snohomish, WA
First off, this was a rough course and a rough race, probably the hardest cross race I’ve ever done. The night before and in the morning it rained causing the course to be a mudfest and after I got to the race I realized I had the wrong tires for the conditions….made things really interesting.
My plan this week was to finally get a good start, so I had focused all week on practicing on getting off the start line quick. The course was designed perfectly for this as we had a lap around a cinder track/football field before we headed into the woods. The first half of the course was through a wooded section behind the school, and looked to be some sort of walking trail as there was a good 3-4 inches of wood chips and saw dust covering the course, and with the rain, it made the course very challenging as with every pedal stroke it seemed like you sunk further into the wooden abyss.
The second half of the course was a lot of off-camber switch backs on the baseball field and throughout the school's playground. The run up was very short, which sucks for me, since that is where I tend to gain a ton of time/places, so I knew I’d have to focus my running energy in other places, which I soon found. On the back stretch prior to the home stretch was a good 200 meters of slogging through a mud pit followed by some quick off-camber switch backs which were like ice, I decided after pre-riding the course, that I’d focus on running this section instead of trying to slog through.
Well, I got a great start and was in the top 10 after about the first ½ lap, but then we got to the off-camber sections and 90% of the crew either spun out, slid out, or went down, me included, the long and short of it, it was a mess. That first lap was the hardest 8-10 minutes I’ve ever ridden on a bike, my legs and lungs were really burning. Laps 2-3 I was having a hard time so I decided to just ride tempo and get through the race, I got passed by a lot of people in this time.
Laps 4-5 I felt a lot better and caught a lot of people, including Rich, whom I seem to duke it out with each week, kinda funny how we always end up together at the end. The last lap, Rich and I pretty much took turns pushing each other. Through the technical sections he had an edge, but in the running and off camber sections I tended to gain ground. With about ¼ mile left, we finished off the run-up and then headed towards an off-camber running section which provided the deciding factor in the Joel vs. Rich saga. I ended up sliding out and he got a slight edge and held me off at the finish…nice work again Rich!
I ended up 35th, not what I had hoped for, but again, this was the toughest race I’ve ever done with all the running and off-camber sections. I’m off to Vegas this weekend for some relaxation before we pickup at Evergreen next weekend. My goal is to finish in the top 25, which I think I can pull off as there were roughly 15-20 people within a minute or so of me. Until next weekend…
Joel Liefke
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