Race Report
Cross Crusade #2: Horning’s Hideout
North Plains, Oregon
Sunday, October 14
The fog was thick and fluid, the morning sunlight fighting to be seen through the trees; we motored down a narrow dirt road. Winding around trees and marsh it was a seen reminiscent of Deliverance. In fact, I think I heard dueling banjos playing in the background. Wait a minute, it was Dueling Banjos. Just for fun (after getting a heads up from a fellow crosser that had been here before) I had downloaded Dueling Banjos from the soundtrack Deliverance to my iPod and started it just as we entered the decent into Horning’s Hideout. It fit perfectly! :^)
Brian Schur and I had left town Sunday morning at 4:00 am to arrive in time for his cyclocross race start at 10:00 am (mine was at noon). Arriving a few hours early, we had plenty of time to get Brian registered and take a few practice/warm-up laps before his start. One lap revealed a dry, twisty course with lots of off camber turns and little opportunity for speed. Constantly braking to avoid sliding out and short steep hills required changing gears often. There was lots of single track with some grass and gravel road (loose gravel), only two run-ups and one set of barriers; everything else was rideable.
A few hours later, Brian now officially labeled as Ryan’s support crew/camera man; I was making my last few warm up loops around a small hillside surrounding the start line. I noticed a few riders starting to line up. I quickly headed down to secure a nice 2nd row starting position. I immediately flagged down my “support crew” to bring me some water to wash down a gel. A quick thumbs up to my “support crew” indicated I was good to go.
As we neared the start time the race director informed us he was going to call up the top 15 riders from last week’s event. Well, I was 13th overall last week so this would mean a front row start. …not quite. By the time I was called up, the front line was already full and I was back in the second row again. Oh well, such is life.
Ok, now I’m getting nervous. A quick glance to spot my “camera man” I quickly made a few goofy poses at him to try and shrug off the butterflies and remind myself it’s all about having a good time.
Lap 1: The sun was now shining brightly and the air temp was a comfortable 60 deg. A calm covered the crowd and now I’m staring strait at a 75 yard climb out of an outdoor amphitheater. A few moments later the whistle blew and it was complete chaos as cow bells rang, spectators cheered and 80 riders in unison sprinted up the hill and made a hard left turn passed the expo area and a scent of Belgian waffles cookin' in the background. ...Yum! I was in about 20th position. Moments later was a hard right going from gravel up an off-camber climb over an exposed root to a short single track section. Needless to say this was a spot where many spectators congregated to taunt the fallen. A few sharp turns revealed a strait stretch to gain some momentum into our first grassy section. It started with a fast bumpy descent. Coming in hot I just relaxed the arms and legs and let the bike take the beating. Needing to get around several I was forced to the not-so-traveled area resulting in even harder conditions. ...I felt my jaw starting to rattle so bad I though it was going to fall off. A quick break, hard off-camber right then, oh no, crash corner! Getting into the drops, lowering my center of gravity and hugging the cones, I picked the largest arc through the corner as I could. Whew! Still upright but barely scraping the edge of the gravel road; a few more feet and this might have turned into a triathlon. Now it was back into the trees for some more single track. A few rolling hills, a short fast section to pass a few more people, a hard 180 right hand turn to a steep steep descent followed by yet another off camber right onto a gravel road. Don't think anyone actually turned on the road but took it wide and turned on the grass on the other side. A quick climb to some more wooded single track, another off-camber, foot-down, left hand turn and back to some more jaw rattling rough grassy switch backs. Our first run-up was an immediate hard right and about 20 yards in length up into the trees. A quick remount at the top only to dismount again 50 yards later for our 2nd and final run up. It consisted of two short stair-step style run ups. I found this to be rideable on my practice loop but was to congested with people now to even attempt. ...maybe next time. More single track with a series of short leg burning climbs, another fast decent to a right turn on yet another gravel road, with one more long climb back to the expo area. A right turn at the top was our final loop away from the expo that brought us to a sticky, slow-you-down, cry-to-your-mama muddy section. A fast decent into another friggen off-camber sweeping turn. Again, hugging the cones seemed to work for me. It was a little more hard packed and less traveled there and my tires were gripping nicely thus allowing me to pass a few more riders. A fast decent just before a set of two barriers forced me to lay on the breaks and skid into the dismount. Hop, hop, a quick remount and 6 minutes later, I was off for another lap.
Lap 2: Pretty much the same thing... whoa, there's the root... ... Fly down the rough grassy descent all the while my brain is being scrambled. ...Uh oh, watch the "crash corner!" ...huff it up the run-ups and... Oh no! Stuck in my large front chain ring??? Un-clipping, I tap "gently" with my toe to see if I can shake it loose. ...nothing! There must be something wrong with the shifter. I am now out of the saddle on the climbs grinding away in my large ring in the front and large ring in the back. Folks passing me left and right as I give everything I have to keep enough momentum from turning the later hills into more run-ups. ...hop, hop, clear the barriers, remount and go for lap 3...
Lap 3: Watch the root! ...make up some places on the down hill trying not to get bounced off the bike. ...power slide! Scramble up the run-ups. Force a grin for my camera man on the hills as I creep by, sweat now pouring down my face. ...Hop, hop, remount and go...
Lap 4: Root! ...Rattle! ...Move up a few positions. ...Slide! ...Crawl! ...Dig, dig, dig! ...Loose a few positions. ...Hop, hop, remount, repeat!
The laps now start ticking by... Lap 5 ...Lap 6 ...Lap 7. Now at the end of the final lap, rounding the final bend into the barriers, I give it everything I've got. Two other folks are right next to me; one in front and one behind. Forced into the barriers on the outside, I take the barriers with force but it was no use. Having the finish line only yards away from the barriers, no one bothered to remount as the three of us run it in for the finish. I place 15th overall dropping two spots from last week. Had yet another fun filled cx race with no injuries and managed to keep the rubber side down. Lived to tell about it and race another day.
A quick bite to eat and it was time make the journey home. Next stop: Rainier High School for event # 3 on October 21.
'Til next time...
Your humble race reporter,
Ryan Brown
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