Another cyclocross race in the books.

This weekend’s event, an inaugural, AACX, took place east of DC in Davidsonville, MD, a sleepy town that reminds me very much of Northern VA in the early 80s. Lots of farms, old homes, and great roads. I knew this so I took the road bike with me to get some extra miles, but it got cold shortly after my race so it merely gathered dust.

Upon arriving, I met a guy named Andrew (we were parked next to each other) who was also new to cross. We ended up pre-riding and starting together… Was also helpful to have someone help with pinning on a number. Despite arriving very early, we were a bit too casual with getting to the start and ended up on the back line just as the race began. I went to start my GPS, noticed it was still on my warmup, messed with it for a few seconds, and was on my way 5-10 seconds behind everyone else, but no matter as the start featured a technical hill followed by a massive hill, which means being in the pack would be a liability. Also, long race on an open and fast course = time lost now mattered little.

Through the start, up the first little technical hill, around a bend, and up a massive hill, which I opted to run up following my pre-ride. It was big and my easiest gear isn’t all that easy (1×9 setup with 42 front and 12-27 rear) so I figured I’d use less energy running. Not ideal, but nobody in my race (that I saw) rode up it.

It was pretty fun starting in the back as it meant picking folks off the entire race. At 46 minutes, this race was twice as long as my last. My heart-rate was just as high, but somehow this hurt much less. I had a really healthy battle with one guy the entire race. He was quite a bit smaller than me so at the start of a lap he’d put time on me with the hills (hauling 60 fewer pounds up a hill is quite a bit easier), the corners were about even, but I’d out-power him on the flats, which accounted for the last third of the course. When I initially caught him, I figured I’d pass him with ease, but it occurred right as we went by the announcer who told him we (there was another guy around at the time) were holding him back, which lit his fire and he took off. It took a full lap to reel him back, at which time he pushed it again, and opened a gap that would take me awhile to close. Together, we passed another handful of folks, but kept going back and forth. I was quite certain he was leaving something in the tank with the speed at which he attacked the hills so that was a major concern.

On the final lap, I was just ahead of him at the start. He crushed me on the two initial hills and the chase was on. He opened a bit of a gap, but I bided my time and energy by slowly reeling him in. As we hit the flat section, I poured it on. He had a handful of seconds on me as we entered the final third of the course, but from previous passes I knew I had the power advantage by a good margin. We passed another racer together and I chose that to be my starting gun. The second I put a wheel in front of him, I gave it all I had in order to break his will. We weren’t racing for a podium position, but it sure felt like it. My tactics worked and I created a sizable gap that I held through the finish. We shared congratulations after the race and that was that. Great competition; he pushed me, I pushed him, and we finished with nothing but smiles.

I ended up 13th of 45 starters. My GPS says I had a faster lap than the race winner, which is very odd; maybe starting in the back affected me a bit more than I thought? I’ll have to try not doing that next time.

The bike held up nicely on a set of “new” (they have a few thousand miles on them) wheels (Shimano RS80) I picked up this past week. They’re much lighter than what I was using so that had to help a bit, but the bike is still a pig. I’ve been having issues with the new wheels staying cinched to the frame, but I must have gotten that ironed out the night before because they were flawless through the race. I still need to trim my handlebar about an inch and hope to get to that this week. I also want to pick up the “race” Ergon grips because I’ve been getting a lot of finger numbness on my commutes and people seem to swear by them.

The course was… interesting. Following the pre-ride, I was pretty worried about the hills, but they turned out to not be a big deal. Excruciatingly tough, but not too bad. The barriers I managed much better than last week; I’ve found that the less you think about them, the better they go. Before last race, someone told me they account for ~1% of the race and that has proven correct. Nothing to worry about at all. The third of three sets of them I didn’t need to dismount for, which was awesome and saved me a seconds per lap and only put me at a minor risk for an endo, but all worked out. Apparently common for these races in farms are serious ruts from farming equipment. Pretty painful stuff. Also painful? Walnuts. Damn those things hard… Especially in corners.

Race organization was good. Effortless registration and one-day license sale. Beer selection left a little to be desired and was hard to find (nobody knew where it was despite being right in our faces, relatively unmarked), but was still welcome once I got to it. Food was decent. Had some chicken (maybe?) chili with a hefty helping of cheese, sour cream, and a bag of Fritos on top… Awww yeah.

The weather held out nicely with temperatures just below 60 and only a few short gusts of wind. Thank you for holding back, Sandy.

I had expected a bunch of friends to be there, but only two showed. Was looking forward to some more friendly competition, but maybe next week.

Another great race in the books. Next up? Ed Sander Memorial up near Frederick, MD next Sunday.