Race Report - Dave Panella Memorial Cross

After a rather long hiatus from the Central NY Cyclocross series where I did my first two cross races, I made my return today at the Dave Panella Memorial, in Binghamton, NY. Since the initial two, a lot has changed in both my equipment and my ability to ride off-road. Even if the races aren't of the pedigree of the New England Verge series, I was curious to see how I would stack up against some of the high rollers of NY.

Unlike the Verge races, there is only an Open Men class, meaning I would be riding against both cat1/2's and teenagers on mountain bikes. But it also means that you really can't get a bad start position. Give and take.

We staged, and the top riders of the series were called up, most of which are part of the Syracuse Bicycle/Spokepost team. I did some reconnaissance on these guys prior, and found that several of them are cat1/2's on the road. So that means they have roughly the same strength, but tons more 'cross experience. Maybe I could hang with them?

Due to the small field and 60 minute race length, I wasn't too concerned with the start, but it's still not a good idea to mess that up. I fumbled a bit on clipping in, and let a bunch of people by before we hit some turns and they slowed me up. After about 600m, we came to a pseudo construction site, which was fairly reminiscent of a BMX track. There were a bunch of puddles and a banked series of turns which were fairly technical, but a lot of fun. True to form, the field screwed this up really badly and I dismounted to run around stalled riders, making up 3-4 places. I don't know where I was at this point, but I'd say top 15.

The next section was a series of off-camber 180 turns on a hillside. Turn downhill, ride parallel to the slope, and repeat several times. A couple months ago, I would have lost major time in this section, but not today. I took some really good lines and made up some additional places. As we came out of the section, I was probably top 10.

In true CNY ghetto style, the section following the downhill included two large PVC drainage pipes as barriers of sorts. They weren't placed parallel, either. They looked more like a "less than or greater than" sign. Some riders chose to ride these, popping their front and rear wheels in succession. I passed them by dismounting and running through. I'm sure the first couple riders could jump them at full speed, but without the skill to do that, the dismount was easily the best option.

A couple quick 180's and a steep hillside came next, followed by a fast descent into an open field. I forgot that there was a significant 180+ turn at the bottom, and slammed my brakes last minute coming into it. No matter, as I locked up my rear wheel, I guided the skid perfectly through the turn like a pro (well, a pro who screwed up the turn). Another couple turns and another ghetto barrier (this time no one could ride/jump them) and we were at the bottom of the field which was full of standing water.

After the run over the barrier, the course turned very sharply every 10-15 feet at this point, making for a very annoying and slow section. Add the copious amounts of standing water and mud and this part was clearly everyone's least favorite. But you weren't done yet. Then followed the most stupid of cross course elements- the pinwheel. Pinwheels are hard enough to navigate when there's tape everywhere. HOWEVER, when you line your course with tiny flags, it makes them virtually impossible to follow. People could generally find the way, but many ended up going off their lines and into oncoming traffic. Well done, CNY cross series.

Things opened up after the pinwheel, with a fairly straight section which dropped into some singletrack before emerging on a graveled road. This took us up to the start/finish area. Nothing interesting happened prior to the road as far as place changes, but I took the opportunity to make some passes before we came back into the BMX section and the S-turning downhill. At this point, the race was fairly well separated, and I was sitting in 6th place. Not much changed over the next couple laps, as gaps generally closed ahead and opened to the rear.

As we came through the start/finish on one of the laps, I noted that one of the Syracuse Bike guys had flatted and was changing his front wheel. So that meant I was now moving into 5th and the 4th wheel (Jeremy Gardner) was 50m ahead. I eventually made the catch and pass on an open straight, but couldn't get the gap and ended up dragging him around for a couple laps.

Jeremy ended up sneaking around me through a turn, which was fine by me since I was tired of taking the wind. We also were making significant progress on the third place rider, Peter Ozolins, so I was content to sit in and possibly make a big move on the both of them later on. Peter held the gap at 20m or so for quite some time, and the upcoming sections were not conducive to making a big charge and passing. So I let Jeremy lead the two of us. Then Peter was gone. I don't know where he did it, but he was instantly out of sight. I guess I wasn't paying attention.

With 2 laps to go, I turned the screw and managed to gap Jeremy; I kept checking my shoulder and glancing back on each 180 to determine his position. It didn't seem he was getting any closer. I was fairly certain I had at least 4th place locked up. The rest of the lap was uneventful, except that I began to see Peter again as we came to the bell lap. If only I hadn't let him go earlier, I might be sitting in third.

I was closing significantly on the final lap, but there just wasn't enough room left to pull him back, so I sat up a bit and rolled it in for a 4th place finish. I've gotta say I'm pretty happy with my finish. Everyone who finished ahead of me is a cat 2 or better on the road and 3 or better in cross. More importantly, I was impressed with my ability to really attack the course and the turns confidently and competently. A couple of times, I had a minor slip but I always managed to stay up. Were it last month, I would have been inspecting dirt.

I think that's it for my first 'cross season...can't wait until next year. Hopefully all that road stuff will go smoothly and be done quickly so I can hop back on the cross bike and have some fun in the fall.