I only got to do "Day 1" of Applecross, because church and grandma. But that was as good to me as racing again.
Anywho, Cat 4/5 again, but this time it was the last race of the day, instead of the first. So my start time was 3:15. My other two races were at 9, so I hardly knew what to do with myself! I didn't even leave for the venue until 11, it was great. I got there around 12, got my number and all that jazz, and watched a bit of the Masters going at it. Went back to the car, changed, ate a little, hopped on the bike and got a slow pre-ride of the course in between the Masters and the Singlespeed. I watched the start and barriers for a while and then went for a slow bike ride around Jim Barnett Park to take in the sites, then came back to the car and ate a little more. Then I got in a hard pre-ride lap in between the Singlespeed and Womens. Watched the first bit of the Womens, then did some more warming up rides and some sprints and stuff, then I staged. All that free time was amazing and I felt so ready at the start compared to my previous races, it was incredible.
Anywho, I'm riding my 2014 Trek Crossrip Elite again. Nice little bike. With used Ritchey Speedmax tires I bought very cheaply off Ebay, 32c in rear, 35c in front, about 40psi (this comes into play later (foreshadowing)).
I really loved the course, I had a heck of a lot more fun this race than my previous two (and those were a lot of fun as well). Maybe just because I felt more confident, but I attribute some of that fun to the course. I staged in the last row all the way to the right, there was a long paved start/finish stretch so bottlenecks were scarce, a few twisty's, then a nice off camber drop-off into a quick run-up. First lap a couple guys tried to dismount and run down the off-camber (it was pretty sketchy looking for a newbie), but we were so packed together that we sort of just carried them down with us, then they fell at the bottom because they were half off their bikes. It was mildly humorous. I was able to make up quite a few places here, because I was on the outside and could just run by all of it. Then there were a few off-camber turns and stuff. Lowering my tire pressure from ~50 to ~40 made such a huge difference on the off-cambers. Rocktown CX was basically entirely off-cambers, and I had 0 confidence and slipped and slid and wiped out on them. This race I felt extremely confident on them and was able to rail them pretty nice. Except the 2nd lap, where I thought to myself, "If I pedal here, I will strike my pedal on the ground and fall over, but I would also be able to pass this guy." Apparently I forgot that I can't pass somebody whilst I am laying on the ground.
After the off-cambers, there were a few pavement crossings, then a nice deep mud pit with standing water and everything. Then the barriers and a dip through a similar mud pit, then a long, very fast paved descent, which was awesome to recover on.
Back to the mud pits: My first pre-ride lap I opted to walk next to the pits to keep my travel clothes clean. But seeing as I had never ridden in mud before, I knew I had to go through it next time. So I hit the first one, but the rut was really wide and it was very simple. So I came to the second pit expecting the same treatment, but there were no ruts, and I hit the mud and immediately went flying off my bike into the middle of the pit. Mud everywhere. That was fun. I hosed the bike (and myself) down before the start of the race, and was sort of embarrassed.
Back to the race: After the paved descent, there are a couple twisties, then the "Belgian Wall." Which is just a very steep run-up, which was super fun. It was nice and muddy and slick at the bottom, which made it nice and interesting. After that is a nice off-camber section again, then it goes up intot the woods, a couple log barriers (I bunny-hopped them in practice, but when I tried during the race I just crushed my bottom bracket on the logs and almost went over the bars... I guess the adrenaline makes a difference. I decided to run them instead after that).
On the second lap, shortly after I fell on that off-camber, I hit a pavement crossing pretty hard, but my bike felt fine and the tire looked good, so I rode past the pits. Move forward 100 yards to the paved decent, and when I hit my top speed my back end was all sorts of squirrelly, so I looked down and sure enough, the back tire was flat. I rode it to the Belgian Wall, then tried to ride some of the off-camber, but the back end just slid out and there was nothing I could do. So I had to run 3/4 of a mile to get to the other side of the pit. I made a lot of supporters during my run, which was nice. And I was very happy I threw my extra tube in the pit (I never put anything in the pit before...). At the pit there was a neutral mechanic, and he changed my tube in about 2 minutes and I was back in the race (1 lap down). After that I stopped worrying about how well I was doing and just enjoyed myself, and ended up having a ton of fun. I got a lot of practice passing people, cornering in the mud, and sprinting out of corners. I also learned what happens when you are looking down and you forget to turn and go through the tape. Also fun.
Over all, I got 34/44 in my race, and there were 79 guys total. So I didn't do too bad, considering I ran half of the course. I'm excited for next season. Hopefully I will be in better shape by the time it comes around, since I'm not starting from scratch this time around.
Update: Pictures of me have surfaced!
From Cedar Meade Studios.
Flat Tire Running
Mudd
