OK, so I lied...

...my racing season wasn't done.

As long as there is convenient racing and foolish self pride, it's difficult to stop for the season. Yesterday I raced in the New Jersey State Cyclocross Championships in Augusta, NJ. I had been debating it for a little while, and it was easy to not bother when there were only 4 riders registered. However, I checked the pre-reg list on Friday and noticed that ~40 riders were signed up for the cat3/4 race. I recognized a few names, including the current ECCC Men's C leader, and my competitiveness got the best of me. $25 poorer, I was registered to race.

Even though I had to leave my house (on LI) at 6:30am to get there on time, I didn't consider this unnecessary driving, seeing as it was only 15 minutes off my usual drive back up to Ithaca. A break in the 5+ hr drive and the chance to do another race...it was win-win in my estimation.

The weather was brisk, but not too cold- pretty ideal cx weather. Shorts and arm warmers did the job of keeping me warm during the race. I registered and took a few laps to get a feel for the course and my tire pressure- the verdict was that the pressure could not be low enough. The entire course was greasy mud over relatively hard ground. You had the distinct chance of losing it in every corner if you took the wrong line. The course was also tending to deteriorate rather quickly- I can't imagine what it was like after 6 races. Having tubulars would have put me more at ease. In anticipation of a pinch flat I put my mountain bike in the pits, sans pedals. But I did have a pedal wrench to swap in case of the worst. I really don't think I would have bothered to go through a pedal+bike swap, but I felt special having equipment in the pit nonetheless.

I got about a third row position in the field of about 50 riders, which was ok by me given the course and the perceived competition. There really wasn't too much of a holeshot and there were a couple extended open sections and climbs that I knew would suit me. The start was pretty uneventful as the first 15-20 riders instantly put a gap on the remainder of the field. The dual-suspension mountain bikes in the rear didn't get off the line too quickly. When we turned off the pavement, I was probably in 10-15th place and the Rutgers rider had a 10m gap back to second place already. For a brief moment I was worried that he could get a formidable gap as I fought through the riders to get up front. Nevertheless, the grassy uphill allowed me to pass a bunch of riders and pull up to the top 5 before an off-camber downhill turn.

Trying to be slick and overestimating my ability, I took a really inside line and unclipped, anticipating the motocross foot plant. However, I didn't quite plan on the fact that the mud would be far too slippery to even plant a foot. So that didn't work out too well and I laid it down. Fall number 1- only a kilometer into the race. I regained my footing, remounted, and found myself in just about the same position as before in the top 5.

Following the initial uphill/downhill, the course did a bunch of flat switchbacks before returning to another hillside for a similar series of uphills followed by off camber downhill turns. It was too slow and technical to make any real ground here so I remained with a small group that was occupying positions 2-6.

Finally the course opened onto a crushed gravel path where I cranked and dropped the chase group. The leader was still 150m ahead on course. I was making ground fairly quickly until I slipped on the run-up and put my foot into my rear wheel, which required some careful maneuvering to remove myself from. The run-up was essentially a couple sets of stairs with grease mud in between. On future laps, I settled upon a pseudo-herringbone step to dig my shoes in. It didn't work all that well, though, as I slipped 3/5 of the attempts.

The run-up led to a small section around a man-made pond. In warm-up I joked to another rider that someone would forget to turn at the top and go straight into the water on one of the laps. It never happened, but I like to think that it could have. In any case, the entire loop around the pond was pure mud and it was a blast to ride. There was only one tricky turn where finding the correct outside line was key. Following this, the course did a steep drop-down adjacent to the run-up, led us through some tight turns, over a couple barriers, and finally back onto the road to lap through. I made contact with the leader as we turned off the pavement.

I came right around and instantly put a 10m gap into my competitor, which I opened in the following downhill and turns. It became pretty clear that I had control of the race. By the next turn around the pond, I had opened the gap to 45 seconds. Unfortunately, I hadn't yet found the good line around the difficult turn and I ate it right in the deepest section. I quickly remounted only to find that I had dropped my chain in the crash, forcing me off the bike again. The question was...how would I ever get it back on with so much mud and grass stuck to my frame and drivetrain?

I did my best to clear off my chainring and get my chain back on, but my leading gap was falling precipitously. As I finally got everything back on, the Rutgers rider came past and put a few seconds into me. The third place rider was still a fair amount back, so I didn't have to worry too much about that, luckily. It was pretty much just a race for first and second.

My drop to second was brief, as it only took 200m or so to pull back and regain the lead before the barriers and the road section. When we hit the pavement, I opened up another 50m without too much effort. Over the next half lap I extended my gap to what it was prior to the crash. With 3 laps left and a fair command of the race, I dialed back the effort a bit and just looked to maintain the gap and ride cleanly.

I only fell one more time (not counting slipping on the run-up) when I leaned too much through a right hander...ugh. For all the improvement I've had in bike handling through the fall, I had a really hard time with the conditions. On dry ground, it would have been a really fun grass crit for the most part. With the mud, it was a whole different story. I wonder how the real pros would have handled it...was it really that hard?

In any case, I maintained the lead at 30-45 seconds and came in for a solo victory- calm, collected, and hands raised in my best imitation of Sven Nys. New Jersey State Cyclocross cat3/4 champion. Not quite like winning a SuperPrestige race, though...


Hard to say, but I really do think that's it for me this year. The only remaining races are too far away and ill-timed for a long weekend. Not a bad way to go out, though. Can't wait to sandbag next year! Despite very leading questions about how many upgrade points I have, I think I'll wait...my ego will probably need some help after racing p/1/2 all summer.