2017 CX Season (so far)

I got yelled at for not doing race reports during cross season this year.  In my defense, I got promoted at work and have had almost zero free time for writing (and training...).  And my cross season has been relatively lame this year.  *sigh*

The first race of the season would be the last race with my Warbird in the pit and my Niner as my "A" bike.  Hub Labels CX was somewhere in Maryland (they all kind of run together in the end) and was the week before a big gravel race in Pennsylvania.  I had not really trained much after Dirty Kanza and was not expecting to do well in the first race of the season.  As per usual, I had a terrible start, but quickly made my way to the front.  I was super excited to make my way into third by the end of the second lap and was even more stoked to hold it through the end of the race. 

Third Place in the VERY competitive W's 4/5 field at Hub Labels

THEN....  I got a new bike!  I had spent months deliberating, researching, and soul searching to ensure that I made the right decision both for my cycling development and financial situation.  I wanted the best bike for me, but I also wanted to be realistic on how much I spent since this would be a one discipline bike that would be used four months out of the year.  Well, all of my level headed decisions went straight out the window when Kona finally announced their new 2018 Super Jake.  As soon as I saw the frame and the component list, I literally called Jan at Bikenetic and said "Shut up and take my money!"  It took a few weeks for the bike to ship, but it was well worth the wait.

The grand folks at Bikenetic posing with my BEAUTIFUL new bike!

The first ride I took it on was a mixed surface, but mostly single track ride with my significant other, met up later by a bunch of teammates.  We did some cross drills and I surprisingly felt rather comfortable and confident on the bike (remember, drop bars are terrifying!).  I had been planning to race my Niner as my "A" bike at Sykesville the next day, but by the end of the afternoon, I had changed my mind...

Well, the next morning, we lined up for the race and I was on my shiny new Kona.  I was TERRIFIED, but ready to go out and have some fun.  The day was warm and the grass was dewy since it was the first race of the day.  After a pretty terrible start, I quickly caught up to the front before we even hit the grass.  I took the little drop from the grass to the pavement a little too hot and got squirrely but was able to pull it together and scrubbed a little speed after that.  There were a few technical sections that I was able to pass a few other ladies and had made my way into third place when I got too confident on an off camber turn.  The bike slid out from under me and I went down hard.  I heard a crack when I hit, but quickly got up and grabbed the bike.  I glanced at the bike and nothing seemed out of sorts.  So I ran up the next hill, hopped back on the bike and started to pedal.  I needed to shift into an easier gear and as soon as I did, the chain dropped.  I quickly threw the chain back on and tried to pedal again.  The same thing happened.  Meanwhile, most of the field was passing me at this time.  I threw the bike on my shoulder and started running.  But I was probably 3/4 of a mile away from the pit.  After the slowest riders had passed me, I figured I had nothing to lose and put the bike down and started to work on it.  I found that if I shifted into a few gears harder, the chain would stay put.  I had to run up a couple of hills, but made my way to the pit.  I grabbed my pit bike and pedaled on.  I was able to pass a couple of people, but got pulled after two laps.  I was devastated and more than a little frustrated.  I did not even have the energy to protest the results when they had me as DFL (I know there were at least three ladies behind me, but it was no big deal). 

Turns out, when you fall on the drive side really hard, you bend things.  Namely the derailleur hanger and the derailleur.  Yep, you read that right, two days after picking up my new bike, I crashed halfway through the first lap on my first race and broke the bike...  Luckily Bikenetic was able to get it fixed up and ready to roll for the race the following weekend.

I did end up doing single speed at Sykesville after we readjusted the derailluer and zip tied the shifter.  I could not shift anyway, so I figured, why not?  That course was stupid hard on a single speed, but I ended up on the podium!

Single Speed Ladies! (Full disclosure, I was third, the first place woman bailed before the podium) 

The next race of the season was Hyattsville.  My bike was fixed and I was feeling pretty good about racing.  Plus, there were FORTY, yes 40 women signed up for the Cat 4/5 race.  How awesome is that!? 

Front row start and our game faces on.
Photo credit: Charlie (or maybe George) Lewis

After having a bad start, I fought my way into the middle of the pack, chasing down my teammate Christine.  Christine had been training all year and had gotten much faster, much more confident, and got a shiny new Breadwinner, too!  All of those things combined has made her a formidable opponent that I really enjoy racing.  I would slowly catch up to her on anything technical, but she would quickly pull away on the flats and the hills.  It was a race within a race!  I did crash once after hitting a pothole too brake heavy and having a friend yell at me from behind to lay off my brakes (thanks, Ann!).  Luckily the bike was fine, but I smacked my knee pretty hard.  Either way, I lost a couple of places and scrambled to catch back up to Christine.  It took the whole freaking race, but I finally was able to catch her and pass her.  We had a lively sprint finish with me winning (for 12th place) by less than a second. 

The bike held up beautifully, even if I did not!
Photo credit: Someone on Team Bikenetic (sorry!)

I ended up doubling up and racing the Women's Cat 4 race at noon and felt much better about my race.  I ended up 8th and passed a couple of Cat 3 women who started a full minute ahead of us.  I was slowly getting used to racing on a drop bar bike and figuring out how to handle it better.

The next weekend was the Shenandoah MTB festival.  We went, we camped, I took my shiny new Kona on some fun mountain bike trails.

One of these is the right tool for the job.  One of these is not...

I quickly learned the limitations of cross tires on rocky trails...  That ended that for the weekend.

Ripped sidewall.  Whoops!

The next weekend was Schooley Mill.  It was a relatively uneventful race day.  I came in 10th in the 4/5 race and 11th in the Cat 4 race.

The next weekend was the best full weekend of racing in the MABRA region.  DCCX!!!  I failed miserably at gathering photos from this race weekend, but it was a perfect weekend.  Sunny, warm, and full of wonderful bike riding friends.  Day One had 40 women signed up for the 4/5 race.  I ended up a disappointing 14th, but had a race with no mechanicals or crashes, so I was happy.  Unfortunately, due to the UCI schedule, all the women raced at the same time.  So I only did one race on Day One.

However, I made up for it on Day Two.  I decided the afternoon of Day One that I was going to do the early race, which was the Men's Cat 5 race.  For those who are not familiar with USAC rules, women can race any men's race one category down (or 10 years older, in the case of master's races).  I signed up day of and had the BEST time in that race.  I lined up with 75 men as the only female.  Since I registered day of, I was in the very back, which was fine.  The men's Cat 5 racers are often aggressive and terrible bike handlers.  The whistle blew, and we were off.  The first run up was a giant cluster of men getting off their bikes or falling over.  I was able to pass a bunch and move up in the field from dead last at the start.  I also heckled a few of them as I passed with a big grin on my face.  I am sure that was probably unappreciated.  Whoops. I fell in with a couple of guys and we battled back and forth quite a bit.  It was a pretty fun time overall and I made up a few spots and ended up 51st out of 76.  Not bad for my first men's race!

Since I have no photos handy of DCCX, here is a great photo of me going over some barriers.
Photo credit: Anna @ Hyattsville CX

The women's Cat 4/5 race was relatively uneventful, but I did have a blast chasing after teammates and friends.  I ended up 14th again.  If nothing else, I was consistent.  I got talked into doing the Single Speed race in the afternoon.  This was my third race of the day and I was already a couple of beers ahead of the curve.  It hurt, but I am SO glad I did that race.  One of my dirty Kanza compatriots and I did it for hand ups.  I had no less than three beers and a shot of whisky per lap.  It was a blast.  I ended up 8th out of 10.

A few days after DCCX, I had a non-cycling injury of my neck and shoulder.  I raced Biketoberfest in the Women's 3/4 category and had a relatively surprising finish of "not last".  I was unable to turn my neck and that course was FULL of corners.  I really enjoyed the course and can not wait to go back next year and race it uninjured. Due to my injury, I sat out Tacchino, but did go (and worked as the medic) to check out the new course venue.  It was pretty awesome and the weather (cool and rainy) made it pretty epic.

Speaking of rainy...  It rained ALL night before Ed Sander Memorial Cross.  I mean a couple of inches of rain and still misty in the morning.  This turned a relatively fast and flowy course into a nightmare of mud and freshly cut grass.  I had deliberately skipped the early race due to a brewery tour the previous day.  We still got to the race venue relatively early and was able to immediately note that this was going to be a touch day to get through.  I hopped on the course to pre-ride on my Kona, rode less than a quarter of a mile, got off the course and decided it was not worth ruining the bike to pre-ride.  I also immediately made the decision to race my Niner due to the mud clearance and less expensive drive train.  (Good choice!)

Watching the Men's Cat 4 race before my race was probably a bad idea.  There were SO many broken drive trains and DNF's.  But I was a good bike handler in mud and felt relatively confident about my race.  The USAC officials actually ended up cutting about 3/4th of a mile off the back end of the course after the men's race.  It was unrideable: 8-10 inches of sloppy, sticky mud.  That made me feel even better!

The extra mud clearance was definitely an advantage!
Photo Credit: Charlie Lewis

As usual, I had a terrible start, but was able to easily start picking people off in the muddy sections.  I even was able to pass Helen, who is a WAY better bike handler than me.  Flat bars and flat pedals have their advantages.  I had moved into fourth place on the third lap and had put a decent sized gap on those behind me... 

Apparently, I went a little crazy in the mud.
Photo Credit: Ben Kristy of Dominion Cycling

Until the last muddy section before the finish stretch when my rear derailleur stopped working and suddenly my chain would not stay on my front chain ring.  I stopped to try and clear the mud, but every time I tried to pedal, the chain just slipped off.  There was too much mud and something was wrong with my rear derailleur.  UGH.  I got passed by one person and off running I went.  There was one lap to go on the counter.  My Kona was in the pit, but maybe the officials would take pity on me and change the lap counter to zero!  No such luck.  And I did not even get to finish my run to the pit.  I got pulled.  They let two more ladies go through (HAHA they had to do another muddy lap!) and I ended up in 7th. 

Toxic Mud...

To almost everyone's dismay, about three days after the race, it became very apparent that the fields at Ed Sanders was covered in poison oak...  I am STILL itching.

Rockburn, which was my favourite course last year, was still a lot of fun this year.  However, they took out some technical off camber turns that I really enjoyed.  I had a fast and fun first race, finishing in 5th place with no mechanicals or crashes.  My second race was also a lot of fun and I got to chase down Christine again, finishing 10th. 

Winchester was only one day this year and they took pretty much every hard section of both days and turned the course into a super technical monster.  I LOVED it!  After getting stuck behind someone who bobbled early on in the race, I spent the rest of the race trying as hard as I could to catch up to the lead group.  I kept them in my sights the whole race, but was consistently 20-30 seconds behind.  It was a hard fought race, but I just could not catch them.  I ended up in 6th, which I am happy with that result!

Stay tuned for more!