Subway Cx race report.

Finally a moment to share my experiences from the Southern Ontario CX series Season finale.

Another great day in November for a cx race.
I finally rolled out of St.Catharines @ 9:30. Made it to the venue just before the end of the 10 am race.
One minor hitch though. In my usual tradition of waiting to pack for the race in the 15 minutes before I hit the road, I got all the extra paraphernalia, but for got my shoes. I didn't realize my mistake until I was getting off the Gardner Expressway. DOH! Oh well I figured I'd hopefully find some shoes I could borrow, since all the regulars of the cx race scene are such great people, and uber helpful. It turns out I borrowed Brandon Etzl's shoes since he was racing at 11:30. But my warm up laps were lacking in intensity with my Ethnies on Egg Beaters.

The race course was a real good track. Plenty of corners in a maze of tape right close to the spectator area and finish line. The turf and trails were a little slick, so it kept you honest in the tight 180 corners. There was mud on a few climbs that were there and it made you work to stay hooked up and ascending. The only draw back was the parking was pretty far from the course, but just a minor detail.

So when I got there I got ready in my Crazy CX Fanatic out fit. Sliver USA bell bottomed jumpsuit. Full faced Riddler mask and ski goggles. Completed with some big foam spikes on a helmet. I also made a cape, but I couldn't find it at first. It was quite the get up. I was ready for some HECKLING!

I went over and registered and searched for some shoes and did a little course recon. I could barely breath with the mask on so I just hung out and waited for the 11:30 race to start.

Here are a few pics I took of the race. But I didn't zoom in close enough on most of them since I was wearing the mask.




So after the race I went put on my regular riding clothes and did a little warm up on the road. I then got the shoes from Brandon and did a harder warm up lap. The last rip to the car I found my cape, put it on and and went to the start line for 1:00 along with the other 17 m1's and the Senior Men.

I lined up in the second row, since I knew I was under powered for the faster class. And figured I'd just get passed on the start road sprint any ways.
So the whistle went and we were off. I actually had a great start and turned off the road in 4th wheel. It was pretty confidence inspiring to see that I had some power on my SS Kona. But it was all to be smashed with each pass coming out of a bunch of corners and all through the 1st lap.
After the lap I ended up in about 15th place with a few chasers close behind.
I went as hard the whole time. No time for resting when you are a single speeder racing geared riders. I had to push for as long as I could and hope everyone in front of me blew up or had a mechanical.
The cool part of the tape maze, that you went through it twice on different parts of the lap. Not the same side of the tape each time but still in the same grassy area. It made it a little confusing, so ya had to concentrate on the line and not the tape. And I could cheer on my faster friends.
I was having a good race, as far as staying up in the corners and getting up the climbs. The long flat sections took their toll on me though.
The steep up at the top of the walkers path was tricky. My 1st couple times through I had to dismount. But it was my goal to ride it. And I finally did on the 3rd lap after I was fully warmed up. And maybe a couple times after that.
In the last 1/2 of the race I started to reel a couple guys in and pass. I only got passed by one guy at about the 4th lap. And there was a couple mechanicals too.
I think I got lapped by the leaders of the Senior race, on the 6th. But I am not too sure because usually my ability to count is greatly diminished whilst in the pain cave. As I was about to get passed though, I put an all out effort into the section through the pines and double track behind the finish. I think the leader Erik Box was pushing me a bit and getting a little bit of a pull from me, as he had a gap on 2nd place Jarrod Stafford, after I let him pass. Man it was pretty hairy going that fast. I was on the edge of wiping out the whole time. After they passed I knew I would be doing 1 less lap than them, so it wasn't that hard to swallow.

Throughout the race I was getting lots of encouragement from the fans because I was the only one with a cape. I also got the Heckling from Ted Ingram on the muddy climb. The first few times through I just concentrated on the hill and the cheers from the spectators. But later I answered Teddy's chants of "GEAR DOWN" over and over again, with "I don't need no stinking gears" & "ONE GEAR NO FEAR". It was fun.

At the finish line I had another good idea for a crowd pleasing finish. I ended up doing a Superman ride on my saddle over the line. It went well with my new cape.

So I finished the race in 7 laps 1:00:16 and 13th place out of 17 riders. Not too bad considering I am the newest kid in the master 1 cat. I would have been top 3 in the M2 cat.

After wards we went over to the Dark horse pub for some eats and socializing. It was a good finale to the official Southern Ontario CX season.

In this race I learned that I am not too far back from doing well in the M1 next year. I just have to double my training and it will be a good year.

Next race will be Dec 13 in Hespler. And it will just be a fun race with only 2 starts and more mixing of categories. Hopefully there will be snow and real CX conditions.

So ends another adventure of a Single Single Speeder!