WhirlyBird Cross......

So into my 2nd cross race of the season I headed out to Bryn Athyn College for Guy's Bicycle Racing WhirlyBird Cross race. I also want to thank Guys for putting on this race to raise some money for The Manning Children's Education Trust – this is a college fund setup for the daughters of Joe Manning – a friend of mine – who lost his life during a mountain biking trip in Utah this summer.

Now at this point in my life I'm a "B" racer at best...and getting older that makes me a Masters B racer at best. WhirlyBird had one Masters Category so that means I was going to be racing with some of the A Masters. No big deal as I'm still just out there doing my own thing and pretty much just racing against myself trying to put my best effort forward, but mixed racing with A level riders is always a bit intimidating. Even with that in mind I had set my goal for this race to be in the top 25.

This was my first time racing at this venue so I had no idea what to expect. Didn't bring a trainer to warm up which wasn't the best for this venue as there were no really good places to get a decent warm-up....I ended up finding an obscure field hockey field away from the race that I spun some laps around. This course had a mixed bag of trix's up its sleeves. A lot of wide open field sections which would be a demise for me as well as a decent amount of switchback "S" turn type sections which since they were a bit more technical better suited my riding abilities. Translation: I'm slow out in the open and often get blown away while I ride better in the technical sections and can hold my own here. I ended up getting one lap in as a preride so I had somewhat of a clue what to expect.

Line-up: God I suck at getting lined up. Once again I was at the back of the field. I messed up listening to the rumor that they were going to start the 45+ group a minute off of the 35+ group. This being the case it was not a big deal to press getting lined up anywhere near the front of the "35+ group". Not so, the 35+/45+ all started together - DAMN! So, for 2 weeks in a row I'm fighting the opening 1/2 lap just trying to work my thru a stand still race crowd. I actually at one point on the very first bottom to a left "S-turn" on the first short climb end up doing a short track stand on the hill to avoid the stand still clutter. Quick pump left and right and I'm around the mess, but these slow cluster F#&% starts really are killing me. Not that I really should be complaining as one of the major things I like about cross racing is finding these weird places to make a difficult pass - working from the back up gives me the opportunity to do a lot of this :)

Over the next several laps (we ended up doing 6 laps) I found my groove and lines and slowly made my way thru the group. Making up ground in the technical section and loosing a bit in the open fields as expected. One thing I was working at getting better at is increasing my short efforts coming out of corners getting back up to speed. I "think" I did a better job at this...at least I was consensually making the effort to stand and hammer out of the corners.

Last 2 laps I felt like I was Henry's bologna between some Guys Racing bread. I had Guys Racing in front of me, behind me and every corner I could see around, I saw more and more Guys Racers closing in.

A few section of the course that did something that stick in my mind:
1. Approaching the 1st set of barriers on the back side was a 180 degree switchback that had a small/steep off camber uphill to it. Every single time I hit that corner I felt (and it sounded) like I was going to roll my rear tubular. Never did, but that one turn made me nervous ever lap.

2. Right after that set of barriers was the only "Mountain Bike" like section that dropped thru some single track thru a short section of trees. This is the section for some reason that killed my back every single lap. This section had a lot of woops that required me to stay off the saddle and this really torques my back up.

3. I'm slow thru flat out open field sections. This was pretty much the only area I would get passed. I grabbed each passing wheel the best I could, but the efforts in these sections hurt.

4. WhirlyyBird section. This was a part of the course that had you riding a large to smaller circle pattern from the outside in a few time round.....once inside the center you would hit a quick 180 degree turn reversing you one circle round to exit back out. I killed this section catching all directly infront of me and on the 180 degree turn to exit I was able to stand and hammer the last circle out passing a lot of riders.

5. 2nd set of barriers was set up after a straight field section so you could go into these as fast as you wanted. I prefer barriers that you go forced into a bit slower. I feel a bit more in control. These barriers I always hit them right on the border of being too fast (for me) as my dismount run would be right on the edge of my running speed not being able to keep up with my rolling speed. Always felt like I was "just" about to run a face plant into thee 2nd barrier

6. Right after the barriers was a quick down and 180 degree switchback up hill. This was a toss-up between running or riding being faster and more efficient. During my pre-ride of the course I had decided that I would run as it would lead to no mistakes vs. riding could lead to mistakes. During the race I ran the section on the 1st lap only just due to the crowd. Laps 2-6 I decided that since it was rideable, I was just going to ride it. Nothing gained or lost here.

At the end of the day I could stay around so I left right away. Oh, and I want to thank the DUMB ASS that triple parked behind me in the parking lot next to the WhirlyBird section - How the Hell do you THINK I was going to get out. DUMB ASS!!
I didn't hand around to take any photos so no photos this race from www.MLKimages.com.

Results were posted today; I ended up 33rd out of 65. Not spectacular, but I'm fine with it. Just need to get my head in place lining up a bit better.