Xilinx, cross racing wknd #3

Yesterday was a classic course for those of us that have been racing there for the past 5-6 years. Xilinx offers lots of mtb-y terrain, grass corners, some dirt singletrack, usually a downed tree to ride over, and a really nice start/finish straight on pavement. According to the CrossResults.com standings, my accumulated 2011 points had me somewhere in the top 16, meaning I was going to get a call-up to be on the 2nd row. I slotted right in behind Tim Faia. The ACA official then gave us the 1min warning, then 30 secs, then 15. Next, however, instead of an emphatic whistle blow or a loud "Go," he kind of started us with a hushed Go. About 10 or so guys took off, but the rest of us stopped as many had eeked off the line before he really started us. We were assuming they would re-start us, but that never happened. So instead of applying pressure to the pedals and slotting in to the top 10 safely, I found myself way back in about 15th or 20th. I applied some power and tried advancing up along the left side of the pack. I managed to get back up to maybe 10th or so before the course left the pavement and was on the grass & dirt right before the downed tree. I was okay with where I was at this point, but I was not okay with how much energy I had spent to get up there! I soon settled into a pretty good group consisting of Pat Gallegos, Mark Wisner, Greg Keller, and a few laps in joined by fellow mtb'er Rob (bodybuilder) Batey, Jeff Wardell, and stud Dennis Farrell. Meanwhile, Mike Robson & Tim Faia were off the front and gone. We all knew our group was racing for 3rd and on. I settled in knowing I didn't want to do too much work until the last couple of laps. I was riding pretty well. Not great in the corners, but ok. I had just minutes before the race threw on my wheels with the new Specialized Tracer tubular tires. Not having ridden them before, I conservatively had a bit too much psi, but they still felt great leaned over, and the rolling resistance was a dramatic improvement over the Tufo Cubus I had been running. I was sitting in, biding my time, and due to the long laps, next thing you know I see 2 to go. Wisner was having some bike issues, so he fell back some after a couple trips to the pits. Then after the twisty descent on the gravel path, Jeff Wardell and Dennis Farrell both came by me and they were going pretty well. I latched on to their train, and we soon had a tiny gap of maybe 7-8 secs on the group behind me which now had dwindled down to just Keller, Wisner and Gallegos. I knew Wardell, Farrell & I were racing for 3rd, so I was hanging tough. Too tough, however, as I tasted some vomit coming up on two diff occassions. But I rode error-free, maintained some power, and approached the last corner before the hairpin left brought us back onto the pavement for the sprint to the finish. Sprints are always a blast, and I was psyched to have a shot at the final podium step. But, I had NOTHING left in my tank, and could only watch as Rob Batey & Dennis Farrel began their sprints and left me in the dust. They rolled through the line in 3rd & 4th, a couple secs ahead of me in 5th. Behind, 6th-8th rolled in about 5secs behind me.

Had someone told me the night before the race that I was going to end up 5th place at the Boulder Racing Xilinx course, I would have been pretty happy about that. However, mostly due to the botched start (from which i recovered pretty well), I can say now that 5th place doesn't feel quite as good. Ah well, it was a great warm day, and I was ecstatic to be racing in front of Helen's parents and my parents.

Patrick Gallegos had a GoPro or something on his bars, and shot some great footage. I come in the scene around 2:37, and am right in front of the camera until about 6:40 when I decide to make a pass.

Xilinx CX 35+ 09-24-11 from Patrick Gallegos on Vimeo.

Xilinx, and what never was

talk about a crummy day for racing. i was really looking forward to this pro-style venue all week. As a result, along with the continued Indian Summer up here, I managed about 6hrs of riding this week. And even a bit of intensity mid-week. Nonetheless, we pull up to Xilinx and get a good parking spot. I hop on my bike to go register, and get about 20 feet before I hear the awful-but-familiar sound of my rear rerailleur seizing. I stop immediately, but the damage is already done. My hanger is bent and torqued. My derailleur cage plates are bent to hell and partially wrapped around my spokes. Beat beat. I pull back to the car, and then went over to the Mavic neutral service guys. Talk about a sweet hook...pro-level mechanics working on thrashed cross bikes for free! The tech saw my rear drivetrain and didn't look too optimistic. As it turns out, the Kona rear derailleur hangers are very soft metal. So he bent it as good as he could, but it still was too torqued and wasn't going to hold the chain line. So Mark Thompson is nice enough to offer me his pit bike. I swap out pedals, and get about ten yards before I HEAR THE SAME AWFUL NOISE. it can't be. it is. I manage somehow, without even shifting, to tear Thompson's rear hanger completely off the bike!! Un-freakin-believable. unfathomable. At this point, the thought of probably not racing wasn't as difficult as telling Mark, who was right there, what happened. He is a cool cat and was fine with it. Knowing I owed him a new der hanger (and maybe a new r. derailleur as well), I apologized about 3 times and then went back to my car. On the way back to see Helen and Alina and tell them my latest luck, I ran into Brett. He said I could ride Nat Ross's Spot singlespeed, complete with what seemed like a hybrid bullhorn/TT bar setup, AND a belt drive. Wow, not a good course for a single, but beggars can't be choosers, so I raised the seat a hair, spun it around the parking lot some, thanked him profusely, and rolled back to the start. Somehow I managed a weak 13th place call-up or so, which meant second row, out of about 10 rows of starters. Big field, but not surprising given it was in Boulder, at Xilinx, and a BCR (Best Cyclocross Rider) series race. I knew my good position would not last long with the long uphill start and whatever one gear I had to spin. Sure enough, the official started us, and a swarm of riders took off. I went from about 7th to 27th in the blink of an eye. I stood up (I did a lot of that in the race) and tried to respond, only to hear a noise from the drivetrain. Not a bad noise, but enough to make me slow down, and not want to break a third bike. The parking lot sweeper quickly spit us back onto the dirt, with the help of a cool HUP-HUP ramp. Then some BEAUTIFUL sweeping downhill turns on the grass, shoot over the gravel and then down into the grass. We made some more sweepers in the bumpy grass, across an abrupt, but small, muddy ditch, then back uphill for a very difficult 1/4mi drag up a singeltrack of grass and gravel. That was super tough on the singlespeed, forcing me to stand up and just rock my body back and forth, doing anything possible to eek out more momentum and power. On top of all this, my pedals were too tight, so dismounts were pre-mature and awful. Ironically, I really enjoyed the pavement sections, and the sand volleyball court, through which I rode 100% clean and fast 4 out of the 6 laps. The other 2 were slow, ugly, inefficient dismounts. Nice spectrum of form out there for me on the borrowed bike, but let me say I was just happy and grateful to be out there racing, on a fantastic course, after 2hrs of driving down from the high country. I don't know my result yet, but surely it wasn't in the top 25, maybe even top 40...who knows. But I did finish, I didn't break the borrowed bike, and I had a damn good workout. Probably a bit overboard for my lower back, but I'll deal. Best of all, my swollen and discolored ankle felt okay. I gingered a few places, but the brace and the tight shoe provided a nice amount of support. I think I am going to be in very good shape for the Boulder Cup this year.

stick a fork in me...

I'm done. at least that's how I feel about the rest of the cross season. with 6+" called for this weekend, I am not making the drive down to the Front Range. I do think, major blizzard aside, I will go to Xilinx to race states on 12/9. It will be cool (and painful) to see how badly I suffer (and how much I drool) after only riding my bike 3-4 times in 4 weeks. Who cares, it's fun!

getting excited again about snow sports. think I will get out the xc skis for an early season tour up on Sallie Barber, then some turns on the snowboard tomorrow and Sunday.