Wednesday, January 30, 2013

2013 CX worlds in Louisville KY


Sign at the Airport in Loo'vul


Cool kids in fresh boots

Wednesday.
 Course conditions: Mostly flat. Two steep (muddy) run-ups one after another the second had stairs. Soupy. Muddy. Sloppy. Chilly. 45 degrees Result: 19th

  The course: Rain delayed the initial start times for 2 hours. (who delays cx for rain?!!!) The five earlier races turned the already wet field punctuated with shallow ponds of standing water, into a continuous mudfest. Long stretches of unabated bog-track were interrupted by periodic but brief rollers topped with shadows of what was previously grass. The slick muck turned what would have been a simple ride-over set of low double stairs at the top of an S-turn, into a treacherous centrifugal force problem and side-ways slip-n-slide. The two extended run-ups demanded that each step involve jabbing one’s toe violently into the side of the hill for purchase. The two descents were appropriately harrowing. One was a wide off-camber S-turn, terminating into a drainage ditch with half a foot of standing murky water. The second was a mild bending screamer back through the draining ditch of standing icy water. The two run-ups were connected along a high straight section that counter-intuitively, turned out to be the deepest, muddiest part of the course. Some chose to run the entire section instead of turning the ridiculously sluggish gears of insanity.

 
After the barriers on the first lap still clean as a cucumber.....

The race: The field was divided into three elimination heats, run sequentially. By random draw I landed on the back row of the second heat with bib #95. As the fifth overall race of the day, the churned course was a frothy chocolate delicious mess. The start was the fastest part of the race; and then we hit the first standing pool of water on top of mud. Individually and collectively, the pack yawed crazily, everyone hemming & hawing in multiple directions. When I glanced back on the first turn I had managed to hit the uber-selective lantern-rouge reverse-hole-shot. I was DFL into the constriction. It was even more tragic due to the truncated 2-lap format. I would like to say I was "settling into a groove" on the second and final lap but really I was really settling into a cycle of abuse. For inspiration during the kick-step run up, I imagined I was kicking the course in its filthy taint with angry disdain. I felt I had a decent kick-step technique, doing some imaginary grundle damage, but then, the course kicked me. I performed a cartoon-like mid-run endo onto my face. How does one endo while running uphill, while pushing a bike? My hands didn't leave the bars until I had buried my face in the side of the hill. The monotonous, soul-sucking, slow, mud-crawling, constant-power, no-rest-anywhere played to all my weakness. All work no play makes Luke a dull boy. And it showed. I finished 19th, squeaking into the top 25 which was the cut-off for qualifying for the finals.


 
Walking toward the finish line after the race.

Friday:
Course conditions: Same course, but not really. Conditions: Soupy. Frozen. Muddy. Crusty. Sloppy AND icy. Rutted. Unforgiving. Bike-killing. Under 20 degrees. Result: 55th

 The course: Strangely, part of the course was slow, tricky, bouncy, deeply latticed, heavily rutted, & frozen sold, but much of the course was slow, sticky, muddy, sloppy, mucky, & generally similar to wednesdays conditions. The odd bit is the fact that the two parts ran concurrently & parallel, next to each-other. This made the transition between the two, (especially into and out of corners) delightfully comical. The other pleasant surprise, unlike wednesday, is the speed at which the muck froze unyieldingly onto the frame, spokes, brakes, shifters, & one's will to live. The top finishers pitted every half lap. I overheard that at least one of the top three brought four bikes and a full pit-crew. I brought an extra bike but due to UCI regulations, Shane wasn't issued a "pit-pass" because she's not a UCI US Cycling license holder. Wednesday's mud didn't stick, but Friday's mud was a different animal.

 
colder & colder

  The Race: With a longer format, I like to pretend I get stronger over time. I'm not that much stronger over time. Earning bib #56, I rolled into the middle of the pack. The start played out similarly to Wednesday except that I was in the middle of the sideways shimmy-slide into the first standing pool of water-on-mud. I managed to hold position but this time the ice-mud wanted to ride along. On everything. Most racers handed their mud-beasts off to their pit crew at the first chance of a fresh ride. I figured I'd need to go 2 laps before I could switch. After a lap & a half I was just outside of the top 30, but without a front brake, or functioning derailleurs, or any residual joy. The Fuji had gained a significant amount of winter-weight in frozen mud and sadness. For the first time in my CX career, I rolled into the pit for a bike exchange and in my bleary-eyed, dull-brained haste, rolled out the wrong side going the opposite direction. I corrected, rolled back through the pit of despair, and chased down as many lost places as I could but the leaders chased me down from behind well before the final lap. I didn't even make the penultimate lap and enjoyed my first ignominious "you-got-pulled" experience. Only 25 finished the final lap. At 16th, Kris Auer [the speedy b*st*rd that (easily) kept me off the top spot at Ed Sanders this year] was the highest placing MABRA racer. His team-mate and my other mabra nemesis (although I doubt he knows it), Joe Lillibridge finished within reach of my cold-dead fingers.

  Observations: Colorado and specifically Boulder is King of CX. Although a solo feller from Nebraska took the top spot, Colorado brought 12 racers, 7 were in the top 12. 30 states plus Spain, Canada and DC were represented in my field. AZ, SC, & KY failed to qualify for the finals. Spain nabbed 4th. Canada clipped 9th I expected that the race would attract a lot of semi-local big-fish-in-a-little-pond Midwesternappalachiasoutherners (I’m still vague about Kentucky’s exact location) but I was surprised at how far away folks traveled. Since I’m from Texas, my geography is terrible. I didn’t know the 7 states that border Kentucky: Tennesse, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia. Less than a third in my field were from these states.

 
WHERES THE DERAILLER? 
 

Lessons: 1) A pit crew can make a huge difference when conditions are muddy AND frozen. Except for a few flats, I’ve never been in a race that demanded real help in the pits. 2) My expectations were a too high. Taking a three-week eating tour across Texas over the holidays didn’t help my cause but I'm also not as fast as I think.

  Extra Special Thanks:
 Brook Edinger for letting me borrow his bike.
 El Knightsberry for lending me (and Tony) each a set of really nice wheels/tires.

  Pro Race on Saturday: This is really why we traveled. The pro races were a separate category of beautiful cycling. The Dutch and Belgium teams put on a clinic of unabashed technical prowess. In all races (Juniors, Women’s, under 21 and pros). Shane & I volunteered at a crossing point for the first two races of the morning (Juniors and Women’s) and I was surprised at how many folks from the DC area made the trip. The UCI was hoping for 4,000 fans. The venue got 8,000 screaming fanatics. From the leaders all the way to the back of the pack, we (the fans) were screaming our faces off. American fans showed up in force and brought their drunken A-game. As an example; at the rear of the pro race was a single Australian racer being chased by a single New Zealander. As each went by shouts of “AUSSIE!!! AUSSIE!!! AUSSIE!!! AUSSIE!!! AUSSIE!!!YEEEAAAHHHH” were quickly followed by “KIWI!!! KIWI!!! KIWI!!! KIWI!!! KIWI!!!GOOOOO!!!!”

 
One of the American racers slogging along for the fans.

From what saw and later read, the European fans and press were duly impressed with the end result despite some financial & scheduling hiccoughs along the way. Financial: apparently they ran out of money a month before the race. Scheduling: The Sunday finals had to be moved to Saturday due the encroaching flooding river next to the venue.

 
Rising river next to the race venue.

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