The course was the usual wood chip fest, with some burnt in singletrack in spots, a few raked smooth sections, some grass, a decent amount of pave, and a nice set of logs to get over. And I mean wood chips. Not quite the ridiculous level seen currently at Breck Nordic Center, but still enough to have some chips flying around your tires, often into your spokes, but hopefully not into your rear mech. I can't say I'm ever a huge fan of the course. But I can say that my mountain bike skills certainly help on courses like this. From feeling comfortable in the occasional 2 wheel drift, to seeing when I can take a new line around a corner, these things apply to the Frisco course. So yeah, I can do pretty well here without really loving the course. During recon prior to the race, i discovered 28/29psi would work best in the Spec'd Tracer tubulars I have just recently been using. They definitely have a nicer, more supple feeling sidewall than the Tufos I have used for years. And the Tracer tread pattern is a tightly spaced low knobbie like a mini Small Block 8, so it rolls really fast too. But the one disappointment is that the 33mm width looks very skinny, haven't measured it but looks like a 32. As a mountain biker who likes wider tires and a cx racer who will probably never race after mid-December, I should be rolling 34s, both for dry and mud tires.
I had a call-up based on last year's overall points to get me on the 2nd row. Had a great start, and was comfortably in the top 5 entering the wood chip descent at the top of the paved start hill. I tried riding with Faia, Robson, Steven and Ariel in the front group, but popped off early and pretty much dangled about 20-40secs off the back of this group for most of the race. And since I had such a great start and didn't really fade that much, even riding in 6th or 7th I still seemed to have a little gap on a bigger chase group. But in the last lap, the always negative-split-kinda-guy Chris Phenicie comes by me in the grass by the lodge, towing along Kervin. I stick right behind these two til the last steep hill, and there Phenicie gets his bike stuck in some course tape. I get off my bike, but quickly run around him to make the pass. I maintained on the back section and held on to 6th place. Kervin was about 6secs up. After spinning around to chat with the guys, I was happy to see that Faia took the win. But a few minutes later he tells me he was DSQ for getting tangled up with a lapped rider on the grass. I didn't of course see it happen, so I can't really form an opinion. I can simply say I hate to see that happen, to both the lapped rider who hit the ground and was scraped up & DNFd, and also to Tim who races hard and with good intentions. Slightly off topic but we prob need the ACA to more concisely address racing protocol/etiquette on dealing with lapped riders. Both a general post on their site, and perhaps the officials verbally reminding racers at the start line.
So with Tim's DSQ I slotted up to 5th place on the day. My goal was top 7, so I was pretty pleased with my effort. I almost threw up at the top of the paved climb on the 2nd to last lap, so I know I was digging deep. I had a great start, found my pedal quickly, was in the perfect gear. i didn't really make any major mistakes anywhere, handled the bike pretty well. I for the most part rode within myself. But it was tough as I was riding by myself, off the back of the front group, and in front of a chase group, for the middle 20mins or so in the race. So it was a TT-like effort in spots. Bummed I couldn't get the dynamics of racing with a group for much of the race. But I did get to mix it up early, and then again right at the end, so it all worked out. Maybe I should try to race the Cherry Creek TT series on my cx bike next year. Might be good training for both the local mtb series and apparently even some cx races.
The Sunday race predictably had much smaller fields. We rolled off the line with just 14 guys in the 35+ Open field. I tucked in behind Ariel and Faia at the start, but soon realized I again was not up to task to ride at the front. So I settled down, rode my own race and again finished 5th on the day. Great weather and perfect fall colors added to a fun weekend. Hopefully next year we can get LG or Towle into some announcing, and a better food vendor. We will see if the event becomes a 1-day race or if they continue the Sat/Sun double.
Big thanks to the promoters and friends Scott Bourque & Tim Assor. Without their idea and efforts, we would not have any cyclocross racing in Summit County. And thank you to the others who lended a hand in any way: Wilderness Sports, Jen Radueg, Renee & Mike Goldberg, Josh Petrucci, Erin Pheil, David Overstreet, Dr Winfield, Mark Thompson, Holly Wade, Clay & Kristin Schwarck, Town of Frisco, and to the sponsors.
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