Estabrook Cross
Quote of the day - Never let go of that fiery sadness called desire. (Patti Smith)
Some days you have to grab on to the desire so it doesn't escape you. Sure by all measures I should love the race at Estabrook as it was the first win of my cyclocross racing career. However, it seems as if that win was a fluke as every year since Estabrook has been a cruel race to me. I hate to say (given that I'm the current president of a road bike club and all) but Estabrook is a course for a "roadie" and I'm not a "roadie". Well, not a pure roadie.
Let me explain. Estabrook just isn't that technical. There are more corners than there used to be but they really don't decide the race. Estabrook is determined by power. I'm lacking in that. I've always lacked in that area but this year especially as I don't have a lot of miles in my legs this year and there is no faking power. I try to get by in races on years of experience. I like corners, off cambers, off camber corners, barriers, tricky downhills. Anything that does not require putting power into the pedal. All these features allow me to fake my way through racing on little preparation as the one benefit to being older now is that I've ridden a lot of different types of terrain as over the years I've dabbled in road, mountain and cross.
Today there was no faking it. The gals in the race went hard from the gun and I was gapped off the leaders pretty much on the first extremely long straight away. I held off one person for the first lap but on the 2nd lap she gunned it through the long, never ending straight section and passed me. Once we hit the pinwheel corners into a set of barriers and then another set I was holding my own again. Into the woods I gained and continued to gain on the short run up but into the straightaways she once again pulled away. And this was my race. Gain time in the dismounts and then more in the woods and run up but never enough to make a difference.
Luckily it was a beautiful day for a hard work out and a hard fought race. It's hard to complain about a day of cyclocross racing even when you come up on the losing end.
One funny thing about the day - I got 6th place and so won a merchandise prize. My prize was "energy drink" except it was a diet energy drink for your "weight management" needs. I'm not sure that 10 calories is really going to give me a ton of energy.
Next up is a race in Sun Prairie at Sheehan Park. MadCross.org has a map of the course and it looks to be fun (but hard). Also, I'm organizing a food drive at the race so if you're coming out to race or spectate bring a donation (and everyone who donates will be eligible to win some awesome prizes).
Some days you have to grab on to the desire so it doesn't escape you. Sure by all measures I should love the race at Estabrook as it was the first win of my cyclocross racing career. However, it seems as if that win was a fluke as every year since Estabrook has been a cruel race to me. I hate to say (given that I'm the current president of a road bike club and all) but Estabrook is a course for a "roadie" and I'm not a "roadie". Well, not a pure roadie.
Let me explain. Estabrook just isn't that technical. There are more corners than there used to be but they really don't decide the race. Estabrook is determined by power. I'm lacking in that. I've always lacked in that area but this year especially as I don't have a lot of miles in my legs this year and there is no faking power. I try to get by in races on years of experience. I like corners, off cambers, off camber corners, barriers, tricky downhills. Anything that does not require putting power into the pedal. All these features allow me to fake my way through racing on little preparation as the one benefit to being older now is that I've ridden a lot of different types of terrain as over the years I've dabbled in road, mountain and cross.
Today there was no faking it. The gals in the race went hard from the gun and I was gapped off the leaders pretty much on the first extremely long straight away. I held off one person for the first lap but on the 2nd lap she gunned it through the long, never ending straight section and passed me. Once we hit the pinwheel corners into a set of barriers and then another set I was holding my own again. Into the woods I gained and continued to gain on the short run up but into the straightaways she once again pulled away. And this was my race. Gain time in the dismounts and then more in the woods and run up but never enough to make a difference.
Luckily it was a beautiful day for a hard work out and a hard fought race. It's hard to complain about a day of cyclocross racing even when you come up on the losing end.
One funny thing about the day - I got 6th place and so won a merchandise prize. My prize was "energy drink" except it was a diet energy drink for your "weight management" needs. I'm not sure that 10 calories is really going to give me a ton of energy.
Next up is a race in Sun Prairie at Sheehan Park. MadCross.org has a map of the course and it looks to be fun (but hard). Also, I'm organizing a food drive at the race so if you're coming out to race or spectate bring a donation (and everyone who donates will be eligible to win some awesome prizes).
posted by MadCross at 7:25 AM
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