Friday night I left 4.5 hours in advance of the race, for what Google Maps estimated was a 3 hour drive. Indeed it typically is, since I had done this drive before, when the venue was host to the NJ State Championships in 2007. 3.5 hours later and I'm not past the usual 2 hour mark near Scranton, as Pennsylvania sees it fit to close I-81 to one lane for ~40 miles. Before turning off to drive meandering detours, I risked certain public indecency by changing into my kit and mtn shoes while sitting in stalled traffic.
I pulled into the parking lot to hear that the inimitable Jonny Bold had taken the win in the final 30 minute "sprint" race. It had rained all day and it looked like a swim out there. The course was all greasy mud (and whatever else you can imagine might be prevalent on the grounds of a State Fair...). For the win, Bold netted $250, from a field of 14(?) guys! Colin won $85 for 5th Now this is a race!
Saturday was sunny and hot and the course had dried out for the most part. There was a nice smooth foot-wide track bordered by chaotic hardened tire marks from the previous night. If you could stay on the smooth line, it was tacky and fast, but if you went awry it took a little work to come back. One large puddle remained on course that left one particular corner increasingly slick with each lap.
Half of the course was essentially a big pinwheel contained in an area approximately the size of a velodrome infield. Following this, we exited the area over a mound of dirt, did some more typical cx-style turns, through some stock pens, over a barrier set, over another dirt mound, and finally a 100m straight section back took us back to the pinwheel/stadium area. Each lap took about 3:05-3:10 in the elite race. Over the course of a 50 min. race we did 17 laps, I think. They didn't finish the construction of the run-up (over an abandoned car) due to a power loss, which was probably a good thing. I'm not sure I would have risked tripping on a rusty car for the novelty.
Suffice to say, despite my improving technical abilities, this course did not suit my strengths and a lack of straights thwarted a lot of passing opportunities (for everyone). The first few laps saw the race mostly together before Jonny Bold and Alec Donahue decided to stretch things out. Colin, David Wilcox, myself, and a few others got jammed up behind some "first lap all-stars" and the gaps were already well open. GAME (mostly) OVER.
The next few laps were spent trying to get around to close the gaps to the lead (or make the gaps seem less laughable). I botched a turn and swung wide in the pinwheel, yielding a position to an opportunistic Colin. Lesson learned- do your best to not end up in the ruts. I followed for the remainder of the lap before maneuvering past again on the only section where I could hammer. It also helped that the others were taking feeds at the time.
I took the lead of our small chase and tried to put the pressure on, attempting to drop the rest...which actually succeeded for a little while. There was actually a small gap! However, my time at the front was frought with a mess of nervous mistakes. Following the barriers it took a solid 400m to find my pedals, in which time I managed to almost lose the bike over the dirt mound and seriously jam up Colin in the process.
My troublesome reign at the front finally ended as I stacked it on the back side of the dirt mound leaving the pinwheel. I'm still not sure what happened, but I found myself with some curiously oriented shifters and a dropped chain. Colin et al. closed the gap and left me behind in the melee.
From there, I lost my nerve and was bleeding just a little more time as I tip-toed in and out of every one of the 6,403 turns per lap, eventually finishing in 7th. Until the crash I was riding halfway decent, but things turned bad pretty quickly. I found myself tired and sneaking forward on my saddle, putting more and more trust on the traction of an unsteady front wheel. This apparently does not work. BUT, 7th place gets you $70 here...so I made up all the entry fees for the weekend, coming out $5 ahead if you don't count the $6 lemonade I purchased after. Had I been able to race both days, I may have acquired enough $ to pay for a weekend of Verge racing. I think Jonny Bold just about won a season's worth of entry fees.
Unfortunately, this makes waiting for September that much more difficult. What a tease.
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