Here is a course preview, very Euro Hard course!
https://youtu.be/oycgOENyKCQ
January brought unusually dry weather to New England, producing a lack of mud that seemed to excite the CX scene. We were riding in some pretty kind weather conditions and not having to dress like the Michelin man or shiver for the first five minutes of a race. I came into CX season with Zero expectations (well...) as I didn't know any of the local courses, players or where my fitness might lie.
Fast forward a month or more of increased racing and the CX fever started for me. I've raced throughout the U.S. and the New England CX scene is unbelievable. Fields are 60, 70 ,100 strong all day long, pretty amazing energy. After working my points lower I went from the back row to starting somewhere around 4th or 5th row. Ultimately, come December I had points that would put me in the front five rows or so at nationals. I pulled the trigger and started the interval work I thought I would need (Nationals are the first/second week of January).
Nationals were in North Carolina this year, Asheville to be exact. I have been to Asheville for stream work before and really dig the town and surrounding Blue Ridge Mtns. Following a couple of day drive with our DER team Director Sportif (Hank Pfielfle) were arrived in Asheville with well expectations of a battle. I figured this year would be a good year to go to Nationals and get some experience and have the goal of a better starting grid position for Nats in 2017 (Hartford, CT). You see the top seven finishers get the front row at Nats the following year.
The Course. Well, the course was really hard and was often being talked about as the hardest course anyone in the U.S. has seen on U.S. soil, EVER! It had many of the components of a Euro course in the making, except for the mud. With over 600 vertical feet of climbing per lap the course just kept you under pressure and if CX wasn't already a VO2 max battle ground this course was going to insure you felt her pain. I started on the 5th row around 32nd out of 130+ in the field. I looked back from my start position and I couldn't see the back row. WOW! that's alot of dudes in lycra wanting to go fast for an hour of power. See photo below for the starting picture. We had accelerated uphill for about 150 meters at this point in a full out sprint.
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| Starting Sprint Men's 45-49 Cat 1 Field |
Shortly into the first lap we hit a large drainage ditch that required some skills at speed. Well when you put 130 dudes together some of them are not thinking or riding clearly. This became the first pile up and first separation of the race. I found myself stalled at the back of wheels as the mess cleared but managed to find a hole and somewhere in the top 25 or so riders. The photo here shows us going into ingles "heckle" hill which was a 30% grassed slope that required some effort (#356). I was still about 20 to far back at this point and the leaders were taking off.
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| Top 20 Men on First lap headed into Heckle Hill - #356 gassing it |
Going into the second large climb (for CX) I made an effort to pass a line of about ten guys just gassing it like it was the last lap. This move paid dividends as I wouldn't see this group again. The race became a race for the fittest men capable of summoning the Perseverance...Strength...and Skills to hold on for the hour of pain (conditions I like). I ended up finding myself in no-man's land stuck about 10 seconds behind 5th and 6th and being chased by 8th about 25 seconds back. I would continue to hold my position and finish 7th on the day. The good news is that puts me on the front line for 2017 Nats. The tough news is that it left me hungry for more CX and hungrier for making the podium. As you can see below 5th was a mere minute out of reach. Til, racing starts again this spring RIDE ON!...
Final results for the Top Ten.
