Cult Cross 2010 - Race Report

Cult Cross.

Suffer in the Spring as you do in the Fall.

Running to the grave, one barrier at a time.

Yup, let's do it.

As many of you know, I'm deep in preparation for my trip to race at Sea Otter Classic in two weeks' time.  Decided that, of all things, a cyclocross race would be a good way to get some work on sprinting, technical handling, and race tactics before I make the trek.

You see, 'cross is typically a fall sport.  Origins based on road cyclists in Europe wanting to continue their racing throughout the mucky winter in places such as Belgium and Germany.  But Cult Cross founder and promoter Larry Grossman figured that spring in Colorado would be a great time to host a cyclocross race.

Rabid enthusiasts?  Check.

Unpredictable weather?  Check.

Heavy doses of suffering?  Check.

Weather leading up to the race was dry enough to eliminate a lot of the mud from the course - what was left behind was a super fast, super tacky, and brilliantly designed 'cross course to have fun on.  Very 'mountain bikey' - lots of rough off-camber sections, lots of fast bumpy sections, and a pretty steep gnarly singletrack to boot.  The loop's main run-up with barriers?  Right at the finish line.

Raced in the B flite - up against typical Cat 3-level racers.  A step up for me, as I have lined up against Category 4 riders previously.  I was very apprehensive leading up to the race.  I knew I had put in a yeoman's effort so far this year with the training program.  A recent trip to Fruita proved I was in good mountain bike shape; but I was a little skeptical what would happen in a race atmosphere.

About 20 of us took off from the start - a long straightaway into a 180 bend on a gravel parking lot, then into a steep long run-up.  At the top of the run up, I notice I'm in third place.  At the end of the first lap, still in 3rd, I remember thinking to myself, "I'm not just up here, but I have the gas to keep it..."  Let me tell you - that's an unusual feeling for me.

Hanging onto third place through the first two laps.  Singlespeeders started off 30 seconds back.  By the end of lap 2, I got caught by three riders; two single-speeders (Brian Hutchinson - CO State Champ Singlespeed 'crosser; and Mike Skellion - a living legend mountain biker, and one of the best singlespeed mountain bikers in the country), and another guy in the B flite (Peter Davis - former pro road racer).  Got caught by another guy on Lap 4, but passed him right back, made a big move, and put a 25 second gap into him.  Meanwhile, PD was walking away from me, opening up a gap to about 25 seconds himself.  He was putting some more power into the bike, but I wasn't helping matters either, because I couldn't ever seemed to get clipped back into my right pedal after a dismount.  Laps 5 and 6 were pretty much status quo - Peter wasn't getting any further away, and I was spreading the gap back to 5th from 25 to 30 to 35 seconds.  Lap 7 (final lap) went pretty smoothly, and after putting a huge effort in across the back of the course, I nearly caught PD, closing the gap from 25 seconds down to about 5 at the finish line.

All in all, it was a great ride and great race.  I felt really solid all the way through, and felt like I could have raced for another hour, to be honest.  I think I'm about ready for Sea Otter.