Josh and I managed to get near the front of the line-up so we didn't have that huge delay waiting for everyone to get going. It turns out it didn't matter much because I was quickly passed on the long uphill paved section that starts and ends the race. I stayed around mid-pack through the first little bit, got bogged down when Josh's wheel washed out in the sandy corral we rode through. The race organizers really wanted to make us work for this one. Normally in a race through sand the course will go strait through so you can do your best to carry speed and power through. Not in this race. We had about 5 cones to go around and if you tried to go to fast down you went. So, through each lap I just spun up a high cadence and made my way through as best I could. Except for that first lap I think I only bungled one corner through the rest of the race. Right after the energy sucking sandy corral was a fairly steep uphill. It was rideable, but I didn't have more than a gear or two in reserve and I wasn't exactly fast up it. Thankfully there was a fast, paved, downhill section next. Across a flat gravely section then you drop into some singletrack. I learned on the warm-up lap to be careful because just as you round the first corner there was ice lying in wait to take down those that were not paying attention. I managed to keep some pretty good speed while staying upright through that section. After a brief bit of gravel road there was a mellow singletrack uphill with more ice. Once you made it through the ice there is a pretty steep run-up with barriers. I noticed that one side of the barriers was about 2ft tall and the other more like 12"-18", I stuck with the shorter side.
At this point in the course I always had a little sigh of relief, most of the work was done for the lap with most of the course on a pretty fun downhill stretch. At one point there is a large rock that had been used by mountain bikers as a jump, I very nearly took advantage of the fun on each lap, but I knew that if I did I'd probably get a pinch flat and be out for the rest of the race. There was a quick running barrier section in a baseball field then down the steep drop to the paved road where we began.
It wasn't until after the race that I fully understood the pain and exhaustion I felt each time I rode this climb. The road is such that as you get to the top of the climb it just doesn't get any easier and the relief I so desperately needed wasn't there. The burning lungs and legs didn't stop and I almost seemed to go backwards. After my race as I was cheering on the next group of racers I looked at that road and realized that what looked flat in the race, wasn't flat at all, it was one of the dreaded power sucking false flats that gets in your head and makes you want to die.
I managed to start passing a few people on the last lap, but there was one guy I just couldn't shake, Aaron. I grew to know his name very well during that last lap because everywhere, and I mean everywhere, the course went there were people cheering for him. Oh how I hated that Aaron and his supportive friends and family. I decided to get away from the taunting cheers for Aaron and put on the gas, what little I had left. I slowly moved away from him as I made an effort to really put it down in the hard sections, hoping he'd back off. I dropped down to that dreaded last climb, intent on putting some distance between Aaron and I. I rode as hard as I could, which wasn't much at this point. About halfway up I realized that he was a ways back and wouldn't catch me, even still the finish line and announcers were coming up and I didn't want to soft-pedal through the line so I kept up the effort and managed a 29th place finish.
I stopped to chat with a few guys just past the finish line then made my way to the truck where I emptied the contents of my stomach in the parking lot. I hadn't realized that I had worked so hard, but as Josh pointed out, at least I knew I gave it my all. Since I couldn't race the last race of the year the next weekend I was happy that I put in everything I had to finish out the season. One last, for fun, race Jan. 2 and Cyclocross will be a sad and distant memory until next October. I'm hoping to convince team Clammy Chamois to do the Cult 'Cross race in the spring: http://cultcross2008.blogspot.com/
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