The edge of the Artic circle
This weekend was the Ham Lake CX and the Blain CX, both up on the north edge of the cities. Close to the arctic.
On the way up to Ham Lake we came across some road construction, we followed the 35W detour, and ended up doing a large circle, ending up right where we had been 25 minutes before. We were on track for the detour until the large 35W north sign came along. Naturally we took that, as I saw no detour signs to say otherwise. I guess MNdot forgot to make it an easy to follow detour.
Anyways all the usual pre-race stuff and it was time to go. The course was on sandy trail and a road, not to technical or hard. Just fast. The whole race held together for nearly two laps, then started thinning out. I ended up being on the front of a group of about 12. After the first barrier on the course it was the road, for some reason people were always hurting after that, I took advantage of that and really pushed the pace on there, eventually we were down to 4 that stayed together until the last lap. I screwed up pretty much every corner on the last lap and paid for it. 2 guys got just enough of a gap I could not close it in the sprint. The 4th guy got dropped.
Overall it was a good race. Fast and fun, it was great to ride with some people for a change.
Glad I was leading...
Today, however, was a different story. We set off to Blaine for the "Velocross" race. Logically this would involve riding around the track and then doing some other stuff. While riding the course during warm up it was obvious the track was not going to be used. Then when we were all line up, we were told that if we did go on the track we would be disqualified. Lame, part of the reason I came up was so I could say I rode on a track. So much for the "velo(drome)" part.
The rest of the course was...dumb. In my opinion the worst I have yet ridden.
Anyways, the race was off. In a starting zone much to small, I never start fast so I was right near the back. The course was not wide at all so passing was hard. Eventually I moved up a bit. Then the course got really shitty.
A mud pit the length of a soccer field, which was actually a drainage ditch, so it smelled awful. One lap I heard some spectators saying as I trudged past, "These guys don't look like they are having any fun at all." They were right, I was not. Really slow thick mud, off camber (which I am usually a fan off) that was to steep, and in some places so muddy that I would just slip down and fall. Bad barrier placement, it was just plain bad. It was not that I was feeling bad, it was just that I could not go hard due to the course. I just got sick of riding in shit water, falling down, and the like. I just quit, I had no desire to ride any more so I just quit. I wasn't the only one...
One of the worthless additions.
Half way through the mud pit. I got yelled at for being outside of the flags on this lap...
Thinking how worthless this is.
11 comments:
you are such a whiner.
maybe you should race cars.
Then when we were all line up, we were told that if we did go on the track we would be disqualified. Lame, part of the reason I came up was so I could say I rode on a track.
The promoters designed a course that would have allowed use of the boards. However, I'm sure you know, as soon as the event happens, the officials are in control and they decided "no boards". Talk to them.
It was not that I was feeling bad, it was just that I could not go hard due to the course. I just got sick of riding in shit water, falling down, and the like. I just quit, I had no desire to ride any more so I just quit. I wasn't the only one...
You weren't the only one, but you were definitely in the minority on two fronts. First, 33 of 42 "A" riders finished -- a finishing percentage that does not deviate significantly from most "A" CX races. Secondly, you are in the minority of respondents regarding the race. The vast majority -- "A" racers included -- appreciated both the event and the course. In fact, many went out of their way to comment on how well the course was designed.
EVIL
It's his opinion, let him have it. Don't take it personnaly. I was in the "this sucks" catagory too, but I'll be back. I even did two races.
No one's mad, fellas. Just telling it from my angle.
No one's mad at 'cha.
that's a good song.
Hey, that Bjorn Selander did pretty good and looked like he was enjoying himself. Tuffy, you're going to represent me in my next murder trial.
No one's mad, fellas. Just telling it from my angle.
take your angle and shove it. get your own blog.
so these must be you: [photo 1] and [photo 2].
I've been trying to figure out who I took pictures of...
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