SRCC Hallowe'en CX Stage Race - Report

This weekend Speed River CC hosted Southern Ontario's only cyclocross stage race. Of course it's not a stage race in the sense that it includes different types of events, like what was tried out in Oregon this year.

Tim and his crew design some wicked courses, always sure to break your legs and make you smile. Alright, I'm not entirely sure I smiled during the race at all Saturday, but I guess I did afterward.

Day 1 Report

Day 1 is the lower ground of the two courses, and with the rain we had this week it was sure to be wet. How wet? Well, I thought it wouldn't be that bad looking over the section of course near the start/finish when I got there, but after I headed out for my pre-ride lap I hit the first couple corners and turned straight around to go switch to my Rhinos in the pit. Little did I know what came later.

Mud

So the course was basically some muddy but easy enough turns on the bottom, then up a climb, down a bit, then up some more into some thick grass which at some point (different for varying levels of skill, strength and pain) became a runup. For me that was right at the bottom after about lap 2. On top were some sloppy turns and puddles, followed by the nastiest headwind section ever - I think the wind was a lot stronger later in the day, as our lap times are not as much faster as usual compared to the earlier races. After the false flat/headwind section it was down a somewhat sketchy paved/gravel service road descent, some more muddy turns then into the area by the start. A short ride up/down loop, a few 180s and the double barriers and that's a lap. 11 minutes of pain, at the rate I was going.


Aweful runup

My race was fairly uneventful and basically consisted of trying to go fast, blowing up on the runup, and finding some legs somewhere after the descent to ride the 180/barrier section at a reasonable pace.


Barrier shot

Got lapped by Watson and 4 others making it a 6 lapper for me. I was racing back and forth with Stephane until his derailleur blew up, which is really unfortunate. For me however, this left me with a large gap behind to the next Sr racer and not much chance of catching anyone so it became a matter of survival. On that course it was enough of a challenge.

Day 2 Report

After day 1 I was at home feeling so tired that I was considering DNSing for day 2 if my legs didn't get any better by morning. Thankfully they did, and though I was a bit trashed as always after a hard Saturday race, my legs felt capable of at least starting a cross race.

Day 2 is on much higher ground, and is thus usually drier. Last year I raced day 2 but not day 1, so I was a little more familiar with the terrain. Tim mixed it up however since access to the runup off the beach was closed - he instead took us across a different short sand section and around the parking lot. Then on the face of the hill much of the off camber was replaced by one giant climb. The remainder of the course was similar - fast back and forth on the false flat in the main area.


Rode the sand cleanly/Watson about to lap me

Off the start I was doing well through turn 1 and into the barriers. I got caught in some inside traffic on the 180 that follows, but was hanging on the back of the main group up until near the finish line. Most of lap 1 and 2 I tailed Zach but he was just a little quicker. Lap 3 saw a big drop in my pace, and Zach just kept going. As the race went on my ability to climb the hill went down the drain, and my quads felt like they were about to lock up every time up the runup. I think I was just worn down, and it was really all I could do to sustain my pace and hold my position for the last few laps.


Much drier for day 2

So racing in elite is hard, but I definitely enjoy the challenge. I can already feel next season's goals and plan coming together, which is great. I'm not going to hammer any of that out in writing until the season is over, but it's great that I'm thinking that way. Plans for next weekend are still uncertain, but as of now it looks like I'm going to limit it to one race which is likely to be the Barrie Cross.

PHOTO CREDITS: Nial Fisher/Ines Meyer for all except sand shot (which was poached from Andrew Watson).