2007 Cross Crusade #7: Series Finale - Hillsboro Stadium

Cross Crusade #7:

Series Finale - Hillsboro Stadium

Hillsboro, Oregon

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Chapter 1:

To Pee or not to Pee

Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it. For weeks I’ve been racing cyclocross in warm, sunny, dry conditions, all a while hearing stories of what cyclocross is really about. The cold, the rain, the mud, the thick goo… We’re now down to the last race of the series and so far have not yet seen true cyclocross conditions. I want to play in the mud and rain, I wished, just like when I was a kid, only now I wouldn't have to answer to mom when I come home.

I arrived in Portland the day before to meet up with some friends for dinner. It was raining, it had been raining, and it was going keep raining. Race day I awoke to... yep, more rain. My wipers were working overtime as me and a friend made our journey to Hillsboro Stadium. After arriving I suited up to take a few warm up laps before my event. This actually made me colder so I road back to my car, got in and turned up the heat. After my "warm up" and a quick stop at the port-o-let I arrived at the start line with a second row starting position after the call-ups. 20 minutes to start and I was already getting cold. Running in place... jumping jacks... whatever I could do to stay warm.

The race start was approaching and my nerves were starting to get the best of me. Do I wear sunglasses to protect the eyes, would they get coated with mud and not allow me to see? I decided against the glasses as so did the majority of the group. I now had to pee again. Still cold, jumping up and down and having to pee. Not a good combination. This could be easily remedied I thought, I mean, I was already wet -- right????.....

Chapter 2:

Ryan vs. the Barriers

Bang! The start was a long strait stretch of paved parking lot. Plenty of room to get a good position in the lead pack. Now wishing I had my sunglasses I could not get a good draft due to the spray of road grime in my eyes forcing me to ride on the outside. A hard left turn forced a realization the it actually was slick out there as my rear tire slid out, slingshotting me from the inside of the turn to the outside. Staying up right I continued to power on. A right turn brought us to our first mud bog. Ok, not so bad, a little sticky but ridable. Up on a flat and fast dirt road now. Grime flinging in my eyes, I could hardly see; constantly blinking. My left eye temporarily out of commission as my contact sifts due to the overpowering grime. Now riding with one good eye, I see our first set of barriers approaching. My dismount was too late. I blame this on having no depth perception as a result of mud in my eye. As I leap one direction over the first barrier my bike slams into it forcing it in the other. I'm now a human mobile with bike, arms and legs flailing every which direction as I do my best to stay upright and not fall on the second barrier. Left foot, knee, right foot, twist, step, reach, hand, left, right, left, right... remount, pedal, pedal, pedal... whew, that was close!

Chapter 3:

Mud

The dirt road now turns to another mud bog. This time there is a deep puddle leading into the thick goo. I think I can ride it. Nope! Stopped dead in my tracks. Note to self: Run this next time. The spectators that have congregated to this spot are now screaming "run! run!" I'm now running, slightly up hill in thick goo, hoping not to loose my shoes. Man, this crap goes on for ever. After leveling off, I get tired of running in goo and remount to make an effort at riding it. The crowd is now yelling "ride! ride!" It is ridable, though not much faster than the guys running next to me. The goo clears and I get back up to speed for a bit before dropping back into it again. Front wheel turning this way and that, just trying not to run off course into the course markers. Another set of barriers forces a dismount and run up a short hill. Remount fine, clipping in, not so fine. I spent precious seconds smacking my foot against the peddles to try to clear the twigs and grime from my cleat. Once clipped back in, down we go again into a quick off camber visit to the mud. Down I go, over the handlebars flat on my back. Note to self: avoid the big hole.

Chapter 4:

More Mud

I peel myself up out the mud, grab my bike and start running. It's official now, I'm dirty. After a short hill it was back to high ground, remount, shake the cleats clean, clip in and go. Gloves and handlebars are now lathered with mud making it difficult to get a secure hold as my hands slip all over the bars. A sharp right hand turn back into the screaming crowd to a slightly down hill mud bog that paralleled the previous stretch I was forced to run. My favorite spot. Apparently JohnnyG's favorite too, and it's no wonder. It was a downhill slippery slide roller coaster that landed you right in a giant mud puddle on a hard left turn. Powering though the giant puddle at the bottom, I cleared it. Throwing rocks and mud from my rear wheel trying to keep forward motion and it was back to pavement for the final stretch of the first lap.

Chapter 5:

Lots More Mud

My hands now are very cold and am having difficulty holding on to the bars. The second lap was better than the first as I stayed up right and remembered some of the tricky sections from the first although each successive lap seemed to get more sloppy than the previous. Mud continued to fly. My eyes seemed to catch most of it as I was really struggling to see. Blink blink - clear - blink, blink - blur. The mud in my eyes felt like sand paper, it was really starting to hurt now. "Ok, one more lap, you can hold out for one more lap." I could really start to feel the weight of the mud and grime collecting in my cloths, my bike and my shoes. I thought to myself: "how was I ever going to get them clean again?" ...Ok, not really.

Four laps total and finished in 17th. Just squeaking in under the 18 limit for points earning. It was now time to clean up and head home. Cleaning up was not quite as successful or rewarding as I has forgotten my solar shower at home. I wiped what I could with a small towel and hid the rest with my street cloths.

Results for Men B: http://app.obra.org/results/2007/Cyclocross/6467#race_90349
Video: http://www.crosscrusade.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1523&PN=1

All in all, a great series with plenty of friends and co-racers for support and company. Thank for reading and for all your encouragement.

Happy Holidays!

Your humble race reporter,
Ryan Brown

2007 Cross Crusade #6: Estacada Timber Park

Race Report
Cross Crusade #6: Estacada Timber Park
Estacada, Oregon
Sunday, November 11

Cross Crusade #6???  What happened to 4 and 5 (for those of you keeping track)?  Well, #4, Astoria, I was out with the flu and Barton Park was the same weekend as one of our mountain bike events held in Echo, OR; couldn’t miss that.  Plus, I was getting a little burnt out on driving to Portland every weekend.

Fully recharged and ready to hit the cx scene again, JohnnyG, Brian and I left the Tri-Cities last Sunday morning to attend Oregon’s 6th cyclocross race in the Cross Crusade series (www.crosscrusade.com).  Brian would be racing first at 10:00 am, John at 11:00 then finally I would race at noon.  In order to make Brian’s race start we had to leave super early.  We realized this as we pulled into Starbucks’ parking lot only to find a dark, deserted building leaving us with a dark, deserted pit in our stomachs.  Luckily I had brought a thermos of coffee from home.  At this point I was hesitant to reveal it in fear of being attacked but I decided as being the driver it was medically necessary in order to arrive at the venue safe and on time.  …that was my defense and I was sticking to it!  Stopping in Hood River along the way relief was in sight.  We arrived at a brightly lit Starbucks with many happy baristas ready to take our order.  Things were looking up.  Already having my coffee I went across the street to grab breakfast at McDonalds.  The Deluxe Breakfast consists of 3 pancakes, 2 scrambled eggs, 1 biscuit, 1 sausage and a hash brown (a pre-race meal adopted from a fellow triathlete friend of mine).

Brian was the first one to race in the Men's C category.  Remembering his last experience at Horning's Hideout he decided to forgo the warm-up lap and jump strait into the race cold.  A pre ride of the course wasn't going to keep him from racing this time.  Still recovering from a dislocated finger immobilized in a brace, 4 laps and a middle of the pack finish and injury free, Brian was happy.  John was next up in the Masters B 35+ category.  5 laps and dropping to a 10 place finish, this was not quite what he had hoped for especially after a strong 2nd place finish at Alpenrose.  Still a great finish in my book.

12:00 pm:  it was now my turn.  After a 30 minute warm-up I was the first to arrived at the start line.  I wasn't going to get a bad start this time.  Front tire on the start line; the race director announces "one minute to start."  Bang!  Struggling to get clipped into my peddle, I immediately fall back several places.  Not quite the start I had hopped for.  Riders swerving this way and that, all I could do was ride safe and avoid getting my front wheel clipped thus falling back several more places.  After making the first right turn I realized just how muddy and slippery the course was going to be.  The sun was out and it was warm but the previous days of nonstop raining had turned the course into a true cyclocross mud fest.  The first lap revealed a relatively flat course with many turns, a couple of them way off camber and a few steep descents and hills.  The conditions were muddy and slippery but the new Michelin Mud 2s really gripped well.  The off camber corners needed to be approached with caution.  Just at the crest of the first big decent was a structure reminiscent of my childhood days.  It was about 4 feet wide, 3 feet long, about a foot high in the back and tapered off to a point that met the ground in the front.  Wee!!!  I launched of that sucker with grace and style.  I felt like I was in the air for an eternity.  I must have caught a 3 feet of air! ...and every lap after that.  I was a kid again.  Later on the course was a narrow slippery bridge that exited to a sharp left causing a bottle neck every lap.  The last climb would have been ridable under dry conditions, but alas, these weren't dry conditions.  This was Portland and it was cross season.  I would get half way up thinking I could ride it when my rear wheel would just start spinning forcing a dismount to run the rest.  The remount was a struggle after clogging my cleats with grass and mud.  It would be several yards before getting clipped back in.  And just after fighting that battle.  It was time to dismount again...  The infamous "6 pack" of barriers were back.  I haven't seen these since Alpenrose.  The approach to the barriers was a muddy gooey mess on a 180 degree turn forcing a early dismount.  Again, after running the barriers, the remount was a struggle, this time standing trying to force the cleat through the grass and mud stuck to the bottom of my shoe.  The first lap was flawless, so the next lap I decided to pick it up a notch on some of the corners.  Not 30 seconds into the second lap I was pealing myself up out of the mud.  My entire left side was covered in mud and I had a tweaked the left shifter; also caked with grass and mud.

After a quick remount, systems check and loosing another few places, everything was operational and off I went.  I was now behind this guy with obnoxious red socks that covered his entire lower leg.  I don't know why but I had to beat him.  At this point a top finish was out of the question and I needed a target.  He and I were back and forth for the next 2 laps.  He definitely had better handling skill than I.  Every lap would pan out like this:  He would gain some ground on the twisty section through the trees.  I would catch and pass him on the strait flat sections and a few of the shallow climbs on the other end of the course.  He would then regain his led on the final descent that led directly into the final steep climb just before the finish line.  He was able to ride this climb but I was force to run it every time.  The final lap was no different than any other except we were both giving it everything we had.  I was ahead, and had some ground on the red socks guy going into the bridge.  Making the final descent, I picked a wide line to get some speed going into the hill.  I got halfway up before I couldn't go any further.  A flash of red caught my eye.  I quickly dismounted and started running but it was no use.  He had already passed me and was still on his bike making his way to the top.  ...but wait, trying to maneuver around another racer he got cut off and was forced to dismount.  As he and the other racer were struggling to get off their bikes and start running I put the hammer down and sprinted up the hill giving it everything I had.  All a while people screaming and cow bells clangin' to help us up that last hill and on to the finish.  Quickly remounting, I powered through the last 20 yards in a dead sprint to the finish; beating Mr. Red Socks Guy and leaving with sense of accomplishment.  I finished pretty consistent with my previous races in 16th place out of 80 or so riders.  (Results: http://app.obra.org/results/event/6466#race_89069) Definitely my favorite course so far.  It was now time to shed the muddy clothes, remount the buddy bikes atop my car (now muddy) and exchange tall tells of our glorious victories as way make our journey home.  Up next, the series finale at Hillsboro Stadium.  Double the points, triple the mud, quadruple the fun!

‘Til next time, your humble race reporter,

Ryan Brown

"The 6-Pack"