Southern vs. Eastern Ontario CX Challenge, round 2

This year the two cyclocross series in Ontario met once again in Kingston, though this race is really more like an Eastern beries race that the rest of us are invited to, as it's run closer to them and by their rules.

The Eastern series has its good and bad points - the good:

• It's big, more participation than Southern Ontario for sure
• 2 start format is basically Elite men and women, Master A & Juniors in one race, everyone else in another. This works really well for the novice riders and passably well for Master B/C/D. If they used ability based Masters and put 1/2 with Elites and 3 with Novices it'd be perfect. The Elite women really benefit from racing with a larger field and it's nice at the back of the Elite men to have some masters and women to ride with.
• Pretty nice venue in Kingston, and from what I hear some good ones in Ottawa too

and the bad:

• Not staked and taped, silly flags of death instead - tape keeps you honest, while flags let you go wide. Also yellow flags and fallen leaves look the same. Also, flags eat derailleurs. Thankfully none of mine yet.
• Unnecessary barriers, way too many of them and terrible placement. The double barriers were good. The one before the climb beside the terrace was ok, definitely better than last year. The others were totally useless - they were uncomfortable for everyone elite to novice, and did not force selection. Instead they annoyed us. The one on the run-up should be placed at the bottom to force a longer run, or not at all to allow stronger riders to ride it. The one after the right hand turn/off camber is redundant, as the off camber is selective on its own. Dismounts at zero speed are stupid, and do not make the competition any more interesting.

Enough of my rant, and on with the race report.

Lining up with the A race, it was apparent that the race was smaller than last year, I guess in part due to Quebec provincials being the same day. Still, it was a nice size field with about 50 starters. People there are crazy, lining up well to the sides of the actual lane just to get a front row position. I'm not sure how it actually helps when you're that far off to the sides, but whatever. I lined up in the back but in a good spot to move up the centre past some slower starters. Sure enough, something happened right off the gun and people were on the ground right in the middle of the pack - I'd say at least 10 people. I narrowly got around them which helped my start as a bunch of people were caught behind. I don't think anyone was hurt, but it sucks to get messed up by such things.

Anyway, the first lap was one of follow the leader - hard because I was following riders faster than myself. I recall being around Brusso, Marc Boudreau and Nick. They all promptly dropped me part way through lap 1, but I was still going along well. First time up the paved climb to the start was very selective and I was gassed at the top - many people passed me at that point, but I probably settled in close to my real position which was good as I was then able to focus on riding a good tempo and holding off anyone else. I did this, and even reeled in a couple over the next few laps. I still felt terrible after every climb and runup, but I was railing the descents and powering the flats very nicely. I must say I felt like I was really going well, even though my lap times say otherwise. I did get complimented on my cornering by a spectator though, so I must have looked like I know what I'm doing.

Toward the middle of the race I was being pursued by 2 Ride With Rendall riders who were soon joined by my teammate Melissa. Seeing this, and determined not to be caught I picked it up and was able to hold them all off. I think Mel dropped one of them and I put enough time on all of them to ride within my limits. The last time down the terrace I dropped my chain and I was quite worried about the rider who was chasing, but I got it back on to finish 11 seconds clear of him, thankfully.

It was a really good experience to race in a large Elite field in Kingston, and though I felt terrible and slow I have to say it was a good race. Next up is the Speed River Halloween stage race at Kelso this weekend - definitely a highlight of the Southern Ontario scene. See you there!