Boom Island CX race report
10th for C1, 11/73(?) overall in the C race
Finally, a race with some real cyclocross weather after two races in
the terrible heat. 50=B0F and drizzling rain sounds awful except when
you’re racing all-out for 30 minutes (or more), then it’s great. If
anything, i could have skipped the longsleeve wool shirt and just worn
arm warmers with the jersey. I was glad when the rain stopped though,
because it’s hard to see with water on my glasses.
I got a decent start, probably somewhere in the 20s after the first
off-camber bottleneck turn (where the B race had a major pile-up, hope
Charlie’s ok!). This is my 3rd year at this race, plus I’d had the
luxury of 3 pre-race laps around the course, so i had worked out a
pretty good idea of lines and gearing and felt like i was pretty well
on top of the course from the start. I dropped the chain somehow on
the first runup, but managed to get it back on reasonably well on the
run and lost maybe 3 places because of it, but gained them back by the
end of the lap.
After the first lap, i’ve usually burned through the initial burst of
energy and need a lap to just hold my own and recover. Same thing this
time, though i didn’t feel so drained through the second lap today,
and managed to hang on to the end of the lead group all the way
around. I started moving up through the pack with the 3rd lap, picking
up a good 6-7 places on that lap (or was it the 4th? i think it was a
5-lap race) and feeling pretty good. I got another few places on the
last lap, but couldn’t quite out-sprint the Freewheel guy after
pulling even with him at the last barrier.
This is the 3rd race of the season for me, and by far the best. I felt
strong and on top of my race and was better over the barriers though i
still need to work on my form there. I feel ready for the extra laps
of a B race after this one, and i’m still thinking of trying one or
two races singlespeed.
–=20
Bill Connell
St. Paul, MN