Cross Crusade #1: Lots of foreplay, but no climax!
Ok, so maybe it’s a bit of a racy title to describe my feelings of Cross Crusade #1 at Alpenrose, but it’s the truth. I love cross season. I love the Cross Crusade and everyone involved with it, and I love Alpenrose. It was my first ever cross race, my first ever cross win (in the Bs) and this year I was hoping that it would set the stage for my first consistent year in the As.
The day started with picking up the ladies (V, Lea and Nicole) at 8am and loading up the Pedro’s van. A quick coffee stop and we were rolling. The drive went smooth and the pass isn’t yet icy, so I was able to drive the beast with confidence. Being in a van with 3 racing ladies isn’t too tough either, so it was an enjoyable drive. Every year the Crusade gets larger, especially at Alpenrose. It’s the first big race in Oregon of the year, and it’s proximity to Portland and anything I-5 brings out anyone who has ever wanted to try cross. Add to that, the fact that the promoters provide an incredible atmosphere, and Alpenrose dwarfs any one day cross event in the nation…probably even the world! Whenever I make the left turn at the light by Wendy’s, I get a bit more excited. Drive up the hill and you can usually get your first glimpse of the property, a diary farm that has always supported cycling and youth events. A velodrome, bmx track and baseball fields are just a few of the extra going-ons at Alpenrose. Usually when you reach the fence you are greeted to a full parking lot. This year, there were cars lining the outside of the fence! What??? The parking lot was overloaded! 1078 racers. 300+ more than last year. 160 women racing! Amazing!
Another great thing about cross is that it brings out all of your friends in the community. Road racers, mnt, track, cross, fixie…they’re all there. I have so many friends that show up and it’s easy to get lost in just catching up. The highlight of the day was seeing my old roomy Hugh. He’s in law school, so it’s hard to get him away from the books these days. After a bunch of, “hey you,” and, “what’s been going on,” I started to get ready. One of my goals this year is to actually warm up before the races. I helped the girls get the trainers rolling, pinned their numbers, walked the dog and then got ready. After spinning around until the B race was over, I hopped on the course for 2 laps of recon. Pretty straight forward for Alpenrose. Long pedaling sections, bumpy, a six pack of barriers, velodrome and the course was dry to boot. My FMB SSsprints were perfect, so tubulars it was! After the laps it was trainer time for a real warm up. 3, 3 minute intervals later I headed off to the start line feeling good.
It was a typical start. Fast pavement with some turns and one tricky left that took you from the pavement to gravel to dirt. Someone always goes down on the first lap and this year’s lucky racer was the ever fast starter (and this year fast finisher for once) Donald Reeb. Fancy carbon wheels went flying and I didn’t notice who else went down. I was happy with my start even though I didn’t get a call up from my overall standing last year and was in the 4th or so row. Riding around comfortably for 3 laps had me in about 9th with all the usual suspects. Tonkin, Skerritt, Decker, Cameron, Hulick, I. Brown, McGrath and Zach Winter. I was feeling good and could tell that the warm up helped. Zach was setting a pretty good pace and I was content to follow since we were steadily bringing Hulick and McGrath back with Molly, Ian and Carl not too far up. After the tricky stair run up I remounted and started gunning it for the next 180 turn.
(before: photo from Oregon Velo)
I shifted up in the back and my chain went into my spokes. No problem was my initial reaction, but upon stopping I realized that the chain was jammed in behind the cassette against the cassette body. Blah. I started wrenching on the chain trying to get it out, but it wasn’t budging. I finally got my wheel out, so I could get a better grip on the chain, and got it unstuck. When I started riding more bad news occurred. My chain was bent and skipping gears. It was fast pavement and a downhill to the pit, so off I went. I was hoping that a new wheel would fix the problem, and after looking for my pit wheels I started the change. Just then a local (Bend) rider in the pit offered me his bike for the race and I took him up on it. It was a single speed mountain bike and it had the right pedals. Off I went. What an experience. I’ve only ridden a single speed once and that was a week ago. I will admit that it was fun ripping the corners on the mtb.
(after: photo from Oregon Velo)
It was also fun picking off the Masters A riders and dropping them! I raced hard and finished up strong, but the result was lame in 50th. A little disappointing, but I think the fitness is coming around…still hard to swallow though. It’s funny that the first year I get a pit bike (it's not quite ready) is the first time I actually needed it. The end damage was 8 spokes ground flat. Easy fix for the boys at Sunnyside!
Ride around, say bye to people, load up and eat some food. Drive home. Rescue Timmy and Decker from a dead car on the other pass (Mt. Hood). End of story.
