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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by Eric Osborn
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Saturday, 11 November 2006 |
UNH Campus Cross
University of New Hampshire
Durham, NH
The course on the UNH campus was nearly flat and non-technical. The first half was downright tame, with a single set of barriers, some mild switch backs, and a few wet spots. The second half would have been even less interesting, a couple mundane traverses of the rugby field, except for the mud. The whole field was mud. It varied in flavor from soggy grass, to sticky slime, to hub-deep wheel-churned porrage, but it was all mud. It was clear that the whole race would be decided here. Who would tough enough to survive the mud?
I tried not to think about the mud and the misery it promised as I sat on the front row of the start line. It’s rare that I have a start position this good, and I wanted to focus on making the most of it. When the race was on I gunned it, and was startled to find myself in second place around the first corner, just behind the Bikeman jersey of teammate Ryan. I haven’t been training for starts, and always assume I’m no good at them. Maybe this was my commuting paying off. On the road to and from work every day I always hammer on the green lights, unconsciously trying to beat the cars off the line. Just goes to show that if you suspend your disbelief and give it your all you may surprise yourself.
Back to the race. After the good start, I gave up a couple spots. Then the pack dropped onto the rugby field, where we faced the only tactical decision of the race: where to ride and where to run. In many spots running was clearly faster. In fact, running nearly all of the field (several hundred yards) might have been faster if you could hack it. Most of us opted to jump back on our bikes in the places where riding was at least possible just to use some different muscles.
Climbing off the field we passed a lady in white plastic boots and red garters playing guitar in the woods. Cool. Reminded me of the nonsense and pageantry that makes the Oregon cross scene so fun. Anders caught up to me the second time through the mud, and we fought back and forth together with several other riders. By lap three I was spent. My bike weighed a ton with all the mud, and my wheels felt like they hardly spun anymore. Approaching the guitar lady again, I rode when I should have run, and Ryan and Anders started to pull away. Then the bell rang! Too early: we’d probably only been out for 30 minutes, but I was glad for it. Knowing the battle was almost over was a huge mental boost. I dug deep and started to move up again, passing a couple riders and catching up to my teammates. A couple guys on the sidelines were yelling like crazy at us to “Ride Faster!” I love screaming spectators, and picked it up another notch. Ryan egged me on, and I ran my heart out through the mud the last time. I was at my limit and gasping for breath as I passed guitar lady one more time and cruised through the finish, happy to be done. I finished 7th out of 19. Not a stellar finish by the numbers, but a good race nonetheless. Anytime I know I’ve worked as hard as I call it a good day.
Erik
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