Don't ya just love a wheel sucker?
one dude at G'ster was acting all Klingon heading up the pavement section... so i juked... needlessly i know, but i wanted to see if he was really actually sitting in and drafting or just picking my line... he was drafting... so i thought, hell i'll be a dick... and i juked again, he followed, repeat, kinda funny... made me chuckle but also kinda grumpy... mostly cause i passed his slow ass heading up it and he jumped to get on my wheel, sure, good tactics on his part...
Sucking wheels in cross, well its good if you can get it... but... well ya know its what it is wheel sucking...
The cool thing about cross is ya gotta motor at your own speed, unless ya find ya self leading the race or sitting in for second... then ya save as much as ya can for the killer jump and hope the official doesn't end the race a lap early. Duking it out for places is more or less the same - me for DFL or Yogurt boy going for the win in the beginner race... but i try and kick it hardcore the whole time, mental lapses generally creep up on me (power wise) then i'll get a jolt from someone catching me or someone yelling at me... its mentally tough... or should i say, mentally different to keep the coals fired for 45 minutes or more...
The physical training is easy. Ride, do intervals, technique drills, on and off, on and off, lift bike shoulder, right left jump race away... Power power power power...
Its that mental bit of training i know i need the most work on. I'm hypothesizing that its a much longer process to get the mind into racing shape than the legs... And by that mark i'll be looking at getting the mental side firing better by next year. A year + for the legs, and more for the mind. I'm still slower than hell. I know that. But i feel measured improvements.
The routine, the pattern, the physical demands, the "i think i just puked a little in my mouth" feeling... the ability to know how much warm up to do, the mental edge of saving just enough...
Tempting to try the blow it the fuck wide open at the start rather than go at it at 95%... Power is a better way to describe it, start at like 1000 watts instead of seven or eight hundred... something in those terms. Saying go 100% means what? 100% of your power that you can sustain for 45 minutes? 5 minutes? 30 seconds? So i go back to the perceived effort of 8 or 9 at the start and settle into 7 or 8 saving 10 for the power sections, hills, runs, long flat grass sections, sand and then the end i flip the bottle upside down and squeeze every last freaking ounce of the juice out... I like that last part. The part that the official denied me on sunday. Granted he was understaffed or overwhelmed... either one. I can't complain too much, but i so like to finish knowing that there's nothing left in the tank...
I'm not sure what to expect at Canton. Either from the course or my legs/mind. Having thoughts about tire choice... is this the race i break out the Vreds? or do i stick with the Baldies? The Baldies were kickass for G-ster, but that grass had great grip... they were less than confidence inspiring in the slick clay soil below the grass in southington, they weren't bad, just not hooked up like G-ster. But with the slightly bigger volume than the Vreds i can run much lower pressure... I may bring up the tire arsenal and make the choice from 'walking' the course (wouldn't dream of pre-riding during a race - who would do that anyway). And looking at the Pre-reg #s i'm pretty overwhelmed. Looks like the B-masters could be the biggest field. Add the farking Juniors (hopefully starting behind?) and ya got a handful on the course. I hope the Officials are up for the challenge.
That kinda made me think. Running races hand out those chips... ya stick em in your laces and they score ya as ya cross... Sure they have thousands of runners to score, but, it'd almost seem simpler... for cycling at least... get the laps counted automatically... Of course that'd mean having a computer and being able to use it... its a bit different than writing down the numbers of the guys riding past...
Well... enough introspection for the day...
Oh...
maybe we need a true winter cross series... One that extends the season past Nationals, through to worlds... eh? Sure the best and brightest will be headed to Belgium to get their asses kicked leading up to getting their asses kicked in the Worlds... why can't we keep racing here???
Everyone too soft?
Why not run the Verge series out through to the end of January?
"too cold"
"rider burn out"
i say suck it up and keep the calender full...
Maybe we need a New Years Day Cross race?
Privateer even? Hmmm Assualt on Yogurt Boy's special course for a massive new years day race event... All of new england ;-)
okay - time to mentally prep for the commute home. At least the wind doesn't look to have shifted much (based on the computer saying its still NNW or NWN at 13-15 mph)... We'll see if i can tick the pedals over headed home...
peace - don't take me seriously - please
g
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They have tweaked the course at Canton each of the past few years, but it has always had two long pavement sections that are good for wheelsucking. There is also a short woodsy section where your bigger tires might help, but I think in general it will be a good course for the Baldys. The course takes the rain well, but there is on sucky section they put in every year where you ride some mucky-lumpy grass section with off camber and tight hairpins. Someone must like it, but I think it destroys the rhythm of an otherwise fast course. The course is very flat, but very much a power course with nowhere you can rest without losing time (unless you are sucking wheel...)
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