PIR’s Pro Paddock course is brutal. Mud is the order of the day, and not that fine, thin, spray all over you but otherwise not an issue mud we had last weekend at Barton Park. This is PIR Glue. It’s thick, sticky, slippery, slow mud. The kind of mud you can’t sprint in, you can’t corner fast in, you can’t run in, you can’t pass in, you can’t even hold a consistent line in. It sucks your wheels and pulls your tires all over the place, gets stuck in your brakes, in your cranks, in your cleats, in your teeth… Real cross mud!

Unfortunately, since we’ve had such a beautifully dry and pleasant Fall cross season here in the Northwest, we haven’t had much chance to practice our mud skills. That means it kicked our asses. I couldn’t figure out whether my tire pressure was too high, too low, or if I had two flats. Only the pavement sections could assure me that there was nothing wrong with my bike, aside from the extra 15 pounds of mud I was carrying.

Races like this one really frustrate me. Although it was really fun, and I always enjoy 45 minutes of torture and heckling, I also really like to go fast and pass people. I don’t think I ever got anywhere close to speeds that anyone would mistake for fast. I missed every dollar and beer preme offered, and spent plenty of time sliding around on that one off-camber mud run-up corner that I really should have been riding, but I was trying to salvage some semblance of my pride and not get lapped by everyone.

It’s kind of crazy to race a course with only one barrier section and no stairs, and still have each lap take almost 10 minutes. My favorite part was the mud roller section! Turning a tight single-track corner off of gravel into ankle-deep glue-mud, running up a 20’ hill and launching into the saddle down the backside of the hill into rollers full watery, light mud, and exiting into an off-camber, bumpy, grassy then gravelly then muddy s-turn was pretty fun!

The line for the hoses after the race was legendary. It was a pretty epic way to cap off the Crusade series, but I don’t want to stop racing! I can’t wait for Winter Cross in Washougal followed by the USGP Deschutes Brewery Cup next month!

Gorgeous streaks of blue, gold and yellow light streaked through the high clouds, tracing crispy streamers through the chill Autumn air. Rust, Rose, Merlot and Lemon dressed all the trees and ditches and fields, their hues made all the brighter and sharper by the cold. Thin patches of light mud and mocha colored puddles littered the bed of the old quarry, splashing all over the legs and bikes of the more than 500 racers assembled to take part in a terrific day of racing.

Grey mounds of gravel, old sawed logs of fir and spruce, yellow and brown grass and smooth river rocks painted a bucolic yet dramatic backdrop for the action, which was fast and rowdy.

I showed up right at 3:00, with just enough time to register, get my bike together and run a couple short warm up loops before the 3:15 line-up for the Category B and Single Speed race I’d be competing in.

There were almost 200 of us waiting for call-ups, all eager to get muddy, go fast, and praying not to blow up. I saw a ton of my friends, chatted them up for a minute, but then we all promptly got down to business.

Call-ups were by leaders and then last digit of bib numbers. I had the privilege of starting in the back of the middle of the pack, where all the bottle-necking happens.

We started slowly, everyone trying to find an opportunity to pass, to get a better position from which to attack. I hung back for a few, lacking the confidence a course preview would have afforded. My first lap was focused toward familiarizing myself with the course, feeling out my ride, and making sure I was ready to attack when I had the chance. There were lots of long straight sections, great for flat-out acceleration and passing. Some soft gravel in the first few turns would need to be avoided, as well as some rather large, very HARD river rocks. Next were some muddy corners, and then a fun, steep run-up that led to what would be the finish line. A tight corner and a few more yards and we came to the first barrier, a single 14” high orange wood standard crusade barrier. After was a long loose left corner on a double track dam road, the back end of which was riddles by river rocks. After negotiating the river rocks and trying to pick the smoother of the two lanes, there was a soft right downhill into a decent little left, followed by a hairpin right turn to a left turn over a bridge. This was the start of the only real tech section of the course. The downhill was fun, but the speed could only be carried if we picked the perfect line. And then the speed had to be dropped immediately for the hairpin, out of which we needed patience before accelerating, as that wood bridge on the left turn was not as wide as it could have been. (I almost went off it every single lap) After the bridge were a few short straights followed by sharp, muddy corners, a mellow little climb, and then a fun little woops section through some trees and into a sharp right turn and onto the long paved section of the course. This was where I could have used a bigger gear. I found myself spinning like a track sprinter in a full tuck, hands in my drops, all the way around the 3 gradual corners of the pavement. After the pavement was a short dirt straight that led into a nice little rocky run-up, and then a circle around a huge burn pile and a few more technical corners on mixed mud and river rock. After which we did a little gradual climb back onto some more pavement, with a 180 degree turn at the far end, bringing us back into the start of lap 2.

After the crowd spaced out, and I knew what to expect, I started to accelerate slowly. I wanted to pace myself so the run-ups wouldn’t kill me, but there were so many opportunities to slash seconds, and the course was super fast. I spent most of the race in my drops, accelerating through turns for traction, and pulling for speed. I picked off 2 or 3 people per lap, and kept accelerating all the way through to the finish.

I always seem to find myself wishing I’d gone out harder in the beginning at races, because I don’t know my limits or my fitness as well as I should. Today, knowing that, and remembering feeling too relaxed in the middle of my race yesterday, I poured it on and never let up. I only wish I’d tried harder to pick off more people in the first 2 laps.

My last 2 laps felt like my fastest, and that has been a constant goal of mine, so that felt pretty good.

Came in 60th out of about 90. I’m not happy with the results, but I’m happy with the process. I even ran an extra lap after the finish, because I loved the course and it seemed like it would hurt less than an abrupt stop. It may have been my fastest lap of the day.

I heard the leaders were pulling times under 8:00. That seems pretty realistic for how fast the course felt. Maybe with a bigger gear, or more than 1 gear, I may have been closer to 8:20 laps.

I’m toying with the idea of racing in the C Category, to see how I compete against people with the same lack of experience as me. (Read: To place in the top 10 and stroke my ego) But I like the challenge and the camaraderie of the SS category, and I have so many friends racing in this category, it seems like I’d be better served picking a couple of them as targets and trying to beat whichever one is riding best that day.

Anyway, enough of my rambling. It was a great race, a great day, and it’s been an awesome Cross Season here in Portland!

Today was awesome!

It was raining off and on, but in the high 50’s.

The course was rough, bumpy and very greasy with mud and wet grass.

The legendary railroad tie run-up was legendary.

The corners were sharp, off-camber, and muddy.

The field was packed.

200 plus racers, with 53 or 54 starting in the Single Speed Category.

I started slow, knowing that the Barlow course provides ample passing opportunity.

It took me about 3 laps to get past all the slow guys in front of me and get the feel for all of the corners, so I could take them fast, know where to accelerate, where to pass, and where I needed to be cautious.

Then I crashed.

Twice.

It hurt.

The first crash not so much, just banged my shin on my top bar.

But the second crash was brutal.

I took a muddy, bumpy corner in a bad line and slid into bushes, tearing a pretty thick and deep scab off of my elbow, and re-bruising the deep bone bruise on my left hip.

I laid there for a few minutes, wondering is I could continue, watching the few fast guys I’d passed go by.

Then I got up, hopped on my bike, and rode it off.

My bars were crooked, my brakes were rubbing, and my fucking hip was killing me!

But I rode through it.

The next two laps were fast.

I passed a bunch of guys.

My brakes got really loud, and I just remembered that I need to adjust them before Alpenrose, or someone’s going to kill me.

And then it was over.

I dropped from somewhere in the low 20’s to 33rd.

I’m a little bummed about that, but the pain in my hip is worse than the bruise to my ego. (Not that I think I’m better than 33rd, but I WANT to be better than 33rd.)

But my bike performed pretty well, overall.

And for what it’s worth, I feel pretty prepared for the next few races until my new bike is here, built and ready to race.

This bruise on my hip is going to plague me through the season, but it’s a really good motivator to work on my bike handling skills.

I also have knots in my shoulder from shouldering, and that is motivating to practice, practice, practice.

So, no rest for the weak and pathetic.

Tomorrow is Monday, and after I work 10 hours, I’m going to do some mounting, dismounting and shouldering drills.

Blind Date at The Dairy #1 is Wednesday night. Wish me luck!