Reports by:

• Mark

Livermore Cross Series #1
My first race report in many years
Venue: Robertson Park Livermore
Category: C
Race Duration : 32mins
Av Pulse : 176
Max Pulse: 187
Av speed: 13.6
Max Speed: 25.1
Position : Don't Know ??? . It was Hot so I didn't hang around
Field : Not sure exactly (Perhaps 30).
Course:
The course was very well set out and had a bit of everything. It had a mixture of fast dirt roads, obstacles, dirt (rodeo arena), deep sand, mud, grass, run up the steps of the grandstand etc etc. There were lots of tight turns on loose gravel to focus the mind too. It was very hot!!!!

The Race
The great thing about this event is it is only seven miles from my house so I get to ride out as a warm up. Unfortunately they were not very well organized so the registration lines were long and the start delayed, so by the time my race began I was very hot because of the sun and not warmed up. I haven't ridden cross for 12 years, its my first race in 4 years, I have a new cross bike and have never ridden on such a hot dry course so my tactic was to start at the back and try to get my skills back. I pretty much rode at my own pace for the first lap getting used to the handling of the bike. I think next time I will run lower tire pressures as things were a bit sketchy on the turns but I still managed to start picking up a few places on the technical bits. By the time we hit the sandpit I managed to keep riding where many people had to walk or crashed and my pulse was near max and from then onwards I rode it like a time trial gradually picking up more riders (they mixed in 3 groups so it was hard to tell if I was catching people in my own cat or not). The run up the bleachers was horrible but at least I managed to keep running. I haven't actually done any running training but to be honest it was not a huge disadvantage on this course. The Candy C pedals were just perfect for mounting and dismounting and I was definitely gaining time over people with less ideal pedals. Looking at the data log of my race I kept a pretty consistent pace and I don't think I could have rode much harder especially as the heat was horrible. I think next week I will start at the back again as I don't feel too confident to mix it up at the front and I am wary of starting too hard. Hopefully by the time the division championships come round in December (also in Livermore) I will be confident and fit enough to really mix it up. Everybody was really friendly and it was a fantastic laid back atmosphere. If you have never ridden cross this would make an ideal first event. I bet I ache in the morning.

The Race:
I didn't feel so good when I got up this morning and was struggling with a bit of a problem with my sinuses. Last week I set off from the back and rode at my own pace. This week I tried to mix it up a bit from the start and nearly got caught up in a crash on the first dismount (some guy did a horrific face plant into one of the barriers). I could tell I wasn't firing on all pistons and was struggling to get my pulse up to the levels from last week. This time it was more like a race than a time trial as I ended up mixing it up with about 3 guys for the whole race. I made quite a few silly mistakes this week and just didn't seem to have the flow that felt so good last time. In the end it was down to just me and another rider and I caught him with just 40 yards to go but I couldn't get past him on the line. I get the impression there are some pretty fit roadies riding out there. The course was as much fun as last week and a bit longer but rather than heat stroke I ended up getting muddy.

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