Downtown LA UCI CX

Well, I was going to do a whole blog post on life and living, with a brief race report included, but due to being really short on time this week, I wanted to at least get a race report posted from last weekend’s So Cal Cross UCI double header in downtown Los Angeles.

Los Angeles’ downtown skyline provided quite a contrasting backdrop to the park’s dirt paths and bumpy grass twists and turns, and hilly run ups complete with log barriers.

Dot did a great job of showcasing the melting pot that is Los Angeles, Southern California, and even Cyclocross racing itself by bringing out local city groups to send off the Elite races both days.

In front of the women’s staging a local group did a dragon dance complete with oranges and a head of lettuce to the sound of beating drums.  Nice lead out!

At Saturday’s women’s forum hosted by Cynergy, a few hours before the Elite races got underway, Dot brought together a vast array of women of all ages – from probably 7 or 8 all the way up to mid-40s, all wearing bike kits and either having raced the Juniors race first thing in the morning, or prepping to throwdown with the non-UCI women or UCI women’s races that were both upcoming.

I haven’t done a ton of traveling to races, or racing/competing in other athletic endeavors, but where else in any aerobic sport do you have a group of people like this: ex-Pro downhill racers, Cat 1/2 road racers, Pro triathletes, high school students, Hungarian U23 bike champions, mountain bikers, runners, and cyclocross-specific racers?

You won’t find a list like that lining up at the local 1/2/3 road race, and you probably won’t at a Rock N’ Roll marathon.  But, for cyclocross?  In addition to anything’s possible – it’s an every weekend occurrence!

Much like So Cal’s first UCI double header weekend in Irvine at Spooky Cross, my training called for an easy 30 minute run the day before the races.  I haven’t been training or resting particularly for any cross races this year, but at least I’ve been running much more consistently than in October, so Friday night and Saturday morning I could actually, by and large, walk like a normal person.  Score!

Justin and I got up pretty early to head up to LA to get in some course pre-riding before his nooner (race start, people!).  He had a pretty tough contingent of out of towners to compete with, and after leading the charge in the 2nd pack for most of Saturday’s race, he just lost out the sprint for 3rd and took 4th on the day.

I was feeling pretty good, but looking back, started my warm up about an hour too early.  I think by the time I was completely done with my openers and practice starts I had about 40 minutes until race time.  Not smart.  I staged with everyone else, and we were then treated to about 5-10 minutes of the cultural show, all I think wondering if the UCI officials were going to warn us before our start, or if they were going to have us on the rivet with the dancers still on the start line.  Luckily we were fully counted down, and off we went.

As usual I had a horrible start. I have had really really solid starts (in XC at least) before, so I know I can start well.  It just didn’t happen last Saturday.  Off the start straight I was near the back of the 17~ woman field, and as we quickly and sharply turned onto the course and bumpy grass, I was immediately being jostled as one other woman and myself leaned on each other going around a corner and onto the next short straight away.  She I think got the spot, and not too long after, trying to make passes I was continually pushed to the tape, braking away all momentum and speed.

I wasn’t super stoked on where I was at, and heard cheers (or were they jeers??) of MOVE UP! as I wound my way around the course. Due to the dust (which I wasn’t expecting) and the bumping and pushing in the first minute of the race, pretty sure I lost of confidence and instead of being aggressive and forcing the issue, or pushing too hard the in the corners (like I did at day 1 of Griffith Park in 2010 – where I wound up taking myself out, going from Coryn’s wheel to dead last in one fell swoop) I whimpered like a sad puppy and took the knocks, winding near the back.  That meant I had a lot of chasing to do.

BURN!

Wound up making a few passes, had no idea where I was sitting, but I caught up to Rebecca Blatt and Sarah Maile (who’d I’d gotten to talk to a bit at the women’s symposium!) and Sarah turned around before the stairs on lap 2 and said, “Oh good you’re with us!  We need a group” or something similar.

Group of us together still on lap 2, chasing the top 7-10 probably.

The 3 of us wound up with a small gap, and I think Rebecca wound up mechnical’ing out shortly after.  No fear, Nicole Duke had flatted on lap 1 or early lap 2, and soon enough she caught Sarah and I.  Sarah towed me around the course, pulling gaps on the stairs, log run up, and barriers that I kept having to close down.

Nicole was passing me on the slight right hand berm – super fast!

On the straight away through the start/finish I somehow wound up leading our new group of 3 – Nicole, Sarah, and me, before they’d go around on the bumpy grass.  After the stairs on lap 3 maybe Sarah pulled over slightly and told me to stick with Nicole as long as I could.  Well, that didn’t last long!

Working too hard to close the gap – again!

Sarah and I stuck together, trying to hold off the next pack back, after Nicole had flatted again, too far away from the pits to run it in.

This is why I’ll never get a podium in cyclocross:

1) entering the barriers, ahead of Sarah

2) Pedaling away from the barriers – a bike length behind Sarah

#hopeless?

At this point we were just over one to go I think (maybe 2?) and I had no idea how I was going to try to win a sprint.  It occurred to me at some point a lap or so before that I was pulling into the wind on the straights, and she was going around through the course itself, where I kept having to close the gap I’d have open up.  Lots of work.  Why am I doing this?  I’m not tactically smart at all, and clearly didn’t even listen to my own advice I’d given Justin 2 hours earlier to let someone else pull!

Before one of the early last-lap straight aways in the back of the course I was charging and trying to do mini-attacks to see if I could get a gap on Sarah before we got to more runs or barriers.  I didn’t look back when I “went” out of a corner, and at the next super tight turn I did look around and she was nowhere to be found.  Bummer – flat.

I still didn’t sit up, since there was someone in front of me somewhere, and a group chasing from behind.  Go time!

Put in a solid race and wound up 6th.  Seeing 6′s lately with 6th place at both of the Spooky Cross races, and then on Saturday.  Christina and I did a solid warm down, and I did my best to recover, hydrate, and rest up for Sunday’s race.

Saturday night after hotel check-in Justin and I headed out in search of sashimi and sushi with the Turner clan, had a delicious dinner at Hama Sushi in downtown/Little Toyko, and then as everyone but me was still really hungry, headed back toward Chinatown for an evening stroll.

Somehow wound up getting 2nd dinner at Foo Chow.  It was delicious, a ton of food, and a quarter the price of sushi in downtown.  Of course, the menu said, “No MSG upon request.”

We got back to the hotel before 9 and tried to hit the hay after chatting with Hungarian super star Barbara Benko about riding, training and racing.  Super cool!!

I think, despite spending about 9 hours in bed, I got around 4 hours of fitful sleep, at the most.  I’d injured my ribs the weekend prior riding Noble Canyon, when my handlebar open-ended jabbed into the right side of my ribs.  It hadn’t really gotten worse training throughout the week, but Saturday night everytime I breathed or moved it was really uncomfortable and somewhat painful.  I woke up Sunday feeling not rested what-so-ever, and in a good amount of pain.  I wasn’t sure how I’d pull off another 40 minute race effort, and after my first lap out on the bumpy course, I was in serious doubt of my ability to finish off the race.

Justin again got in with the lead group in his race, only this time he sat in mostly behind the front 2, chasing hard and had a good race finishing 3rd.  I was stoked to see him step on the box and in the money for the day!

I made sure to start my warm up a little later on Sunday, having about 15 minutes between my pre-race gel shot and the scheduled UCI Women’s start.  Dot had a much different local group of Mariachi singers serenade us to start, and after 30 seconds they were pulled and the race was under way.

While I have no photographic evidence, I ensure you that my start on Sunday was actually what I’d consider to be SOLID!  Vast improvement on Saturday’s race, and off the first corner I was sitting probably top 7, just on Kathy Sherwin’s wheel.  Nice.  Unfortunately for me, Saturday’s course had had the stairs and log run up in the first half of the course, with the barriers in the last 1/3.  Sunday the barriers were moved to just a few turns before the stairs.  So, in the first 1/3 of the course there was a barrier section, stair run up, and log stair/hill run.  Solid.  I managed to lose a good deal of spots in this section, and was sitting I think with a group of Sarah, Rebecca, Ellen, Christina, and maybe Barbara?  There was actually a decent sized group from what I can recall.

The top dogs had no issues on Sunday, so that left 7-10th or so fighting it out behind.  I managed to get a gap to Ellen, and Pro 70.3 triathlete Heather Jackson caught up to Sarah, Rebecca and I, which would’ve been a lasting and difficult four-some, but Sarah was forced to go into the pits, and after a bobble trying to exit, wound up off the group and having to solo chase back on for a few laps.

She was closing in on us, but it was last lap by that point, and Heather and Rebecca kept attacking our group of 3.  Since they were running and jumping way faster than me, I was constantly yo-yoing off the back and chasing hard to catch back on.  My ribs were killing me, keeping breathing and attacking to a minimum, and sending sharp pains through my core on every bump.  Where I hadn’t noticed them in 1.66 races every movement got uncomfortable on Sunday.

I managed to stay with the 2, despite the constant attacks, and going around the last round-about before the straight away I was just there.

Unfortunately that was all she wrote for me, as when we entered the final straight away to the finish Heather and Rebecca sprinted off leaving me about 2 seconds behind, finishing in 9th on the day.

I’m not sure if using Justin’s Tracer tires over my file treads slowed me down on any of the straights, but I maybe had to work a bit harder than I was used to (he used my wheels/tires and said they were way faster and better rolling, so there’s that).  Aside from the wheels, I know I was injured, and have spent the last 5 days dealing with pain and discomfort.

Here’s hoping the ribs heal.

The weekend racing was awesome, and it’s always fun to go from the front of the pack locally to fighting for a top-10 spot on the bigger stage.  It’s amazing how dedicated and talented these women are, and super cool to have so many travel from out of town and out of state to race our local events.

Dot did a great job putting everything together, and I had a blast over the weekend.

Until next time!