Cyclocross Nationals 2012
Written by Don Seib Monday, 23 January 2012 15:12
At the start of the season CX Nationals were not in the plan, were not even a consideration. Being from the Midwest, January in Wisconsin seemed a bad choice too. By mid November we had done almost 20 races and decided that extending the season almost another month seemed reasonable. Funny how logic gets adjusted for Cyclocross.
The goals were easy, go West, have fun, and race bikes. We left Boston Wednesday afternoon for Milwaukee and rented a mini-van. I've been a truck guy my whole life, but have to acknowledge for bike racing, a minivan is the hot set-up. Arrived at the Holiday Inn, slept well and showed up Badger Praire Park at 7am. Roger had primo parking with the van/trailer right across the street from the venue. Got geared up and went out for a few laps. The course had muddy ruts from the day prior and set up firm, not bullet proof but far more technical than the video we watched a couple nights prior.For the Seib family this meant the course was goodness. We did a few more laps and then watched a bunch of the New England crew kick some booty.
Friday arrived 7am again. Friday was race day for Melissa and Donnie. Did a few laps again early and course was similar, it had set up, but not rock hard. It warmed up quickly and the course had transitioned to mud by Melissa's start. We planned a bike change every lap. It's good she and Donnie have the same size frame, quick seat post adjustment and they both have pit bikes. Melissa started at the back and slowly worked her way forward during the race.
She passed a couple first time up the hill and was smooth through the technical sections and steadily gained ground. On the last lap she put in a solid effort to pass a couple more and finished 9th. Donnie went off a little after Noon. Their start was a bit of a surprise. One of the riders on the front row wasn't even on his bike which caused a bit of chaos and put him near the back of the pack heading into the muck. He worked hard the whole race and steadily passed a bunch of his field. He had moved up to 14th but got pipped at the line for 16th. Solid rides for both of them and mom/dad were as proud as parents can be.
Saturday was race day for me, first race of the day at 9am. Arrived again at 7 and went out for practice laps. Course had frozen solid and the opening field section and last technical portion had 4" frozen ruts. It was clear getting through the first section cleanly was key. As in warm-ups, it was near impossible to hold a line. Had a second row start and lined up behind Sam Morse. Sam had a rockin' start which enabled me to move up quickly through the start finish pavement. Coming into the field I was in 4th place, I didn't know it, but behind us was major carnage in the first corner, coming out of the second corner it was my turn. In an instant got wacked in the back wheel which got me out of sorts and headed towards the 2nd place rider who had just deposited himself in the middle of the course sideways. Untangled pretty quick to find I had cut my tire.
Riding deep frozen ruts is pretty challenging, riding them with a flat takes it to a whole different level. By the time I made it to the pits I had lost about 25 spots. After the first big climb I got by a handful of riders and just started to grind. Cool thing about Nats is that it pools all the Northeast folks into a big cheering crew. Everywhere on the course I got splits and knew exactly what place I was in. Somewhere in lap 4 I broke into the top 10 and was still feeling really good. I was pushing hard in the technical sections which was either yielding gains or an occasional course tape excursion. Either way it worked and got to 9th, then 8th and got real close to Sam who was in 7th.
Each time I'd get close I'd get out of sorts and loose him again. In hindsight a bike change would have been the smart move as going through the pits was actually faster than riding the ruts next to it. Managed to hold my position to the finish although Keith Lucas and Mike Hogan put in a major effort and forced me to sprint for it.
All in all an excellent finish to the season. A big thank you to Al and the whole crew at Bikeman. Al loaned me a brand new set of Carver 38 tubulars http://www.bikeman.com/CARV-C38.html , glued up a set of Fangos, let me drop by his house to get them. By crashing/flatting 45 seconds into the race, the product review is a bit short - they are light, fast, and with a nice price. Lastly thanks to the whole New England crew out in Madison. New England CX has a very cool vibe that transports pretty well to other parts of the country. Can't wait for next year.
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