Ohio Cyclocross

By Trish Albert (Team Peggy-Boneshakers)

Race: Grailville Cyclocross
Place: Loveland, OH
Date: 10-9-2004
Distance: 4.9 miles
Speed: 10.9 mph
Time: 27 minutes


After making the decision not to go to Cyclocross Nationals in Portland, Oregon this year, I decided to go to Ohio for two cyclocross races including a UCI race on Sunday. I am never sure which division to race outside of Georgia, so I decided upon the B’s based on their series rules. The B Women is open to Cat. 3’s that race Sport or as the local USCF Official said “This is cross, race whatever you want.” Saturday’s field was a field of B’s, and Sunday’s field was all of the local A women that did not have a UCI license.

Three of us lined up at the start. I raced against one of the ladies at the Snowshoe, WV NORBA National in June, and the other was a first time racer. The course was about 1.5 miles long. It started out on the grass and quickly transitioned to hardpack dirt, which was a doubletrack road. Most of the road was downhill except for a very short, steep uphill at the end before the course went into a field. After a short jaunt through a pine tree grove, the course was on a gravel road before finishing in the grassy starting field. The only barriers were two haybales immediately after the starting line. They were removed for the start. We went off with the C Men. In order to not get caught behind what might be a disaster, I moved to the front line. I got a good start and was one of the first off and into the first turn. Many of the C men did not sprint off the starting line and lagged way back until half way into the first lap. I heard a loud scream behind me, and Jo said that a car parked on the course nearly backed into her. Thankfully, it was stopped before getting onto the course. Jo was right on my heels as we approached the steep hill. I heard a few bad words from within the pack as we went up the hill. I could not blame them. My breathing was very heavy during the entire first lap. I had not raced since the end July, and it showed. I should have been going much faster than I was because the course was fast. I dropped Jo on the first pass over the haybales. I was still with a few of the men although several had been dropped from the group. I continued riding hard through the first half of the second lap until my breathing became so bad that I was forced to ease up. Jo nearly caught me near the end of the lap, but I pulled away for the final time over the haybales in the third lap. I continued riding at hard tempo (but not race pace) through the third lap. My breathing recovered, and I went back to race pace at the start of the fourth lap. The haybales provided an interesting barrier. They were much softer if my shins hit them and did not leave any bruises after the race unlike traditional wooden barriers. I eased back again about half way through the fourth lap when I was sure no one was close to me. I passed a few of the men before the finish and won my race.

Race: Biowheels UCI Race
Place: Fairfield, OH
Date: 10-10-2004
Distance: 7.2 miles
Speed: 11.7 mph
Time: 37 minutes

Sunday’s race was a UCI race. The local A women raced in the B’s as they did not have UCI licenses, so the B women’s race was more local the local A’s race. The course was approximate 1.8 miles. The first half was on grass. The barrier section was several hundred yards from the start on a slight incline. Two sand pits broke up the middle section before the course took a short jaunt onto asphalt. It turned left back onto the grass with an energy zapping hill and snaked back on itself on the side of another hill. The course then went onto a dirt road, through a mud puddle, and back into the grass for the finish.

Six women lined up for the B race including the top 2 women from Saturday’s race. I got a good starting place and was with the group off the line. I was third going over the barriers. The first sandpit was no problem. If you took the corner before it wide and built your momentum, you could ride through it easily. The second sand pit was harder because it was deeper. The line to the right was a little shallower than the rest of it. I stayed with them until the first climb up the grass hill. A few ladies pulled away. I sat fourth after the hill. I flew down the hill on the other side and the doubletrack. As I climbed the doubletrack, a mud puddle appeared where there was none during the preride. A home owner in the neighborhood adjacent to the park decided to do yard work and water his yard during the race. Run off made a 15 foot section of the trail a mudhole. Ah well, it is cyclocross after all! What’s a little mud? Sometime during the second lap one of the other women passed me, and I was in 5th place. I looked behind me several times, and I had about 20 seconds on the other person behind me. I decided to try to catch the person that passed me and keep the gap with the one behind me. This lap I held my speed through the sandpits and did not dab. The hill was just as bad as it was on the first lap although the doubletrack provided a short respite. I started the third lap feeling good. I hopped over the barriers and hammered up the hill. I maintained my position within the field. I still felt good going into the fourth lap. I lapped two of the slower Juniors. They got odd looks from some of the spectators because they were on BMX bikes with foot pegs. By now I knew exactly which line to take through the corner before the first sandpit. After the corner, I sprinted for half a second and went through the sand pit. The hill got harder with each lap. I stood up to crest it but used too much energy and had to recover for a few seconds. I passed one of the C men on the grass. He decided to try to pass me going down the doubletrack. He must have picked up speed and not looked behind him when he moved back over to the left. He almost cut me off, which would not have been pretty at race pace. I yelled at him to watch where he was going. The 5th lap was the final lap. I pushed it as hard as I could even though my legs felt rubbery. The barriers felt 3 feet high although they were regulation 18 inches. I held my speed through the sand pits and rode as hard as I could up the grassy hill. I saw that I was so far behind the fourth place rider that I would not catch her; I also had a good lead on the woman behind me. Still, I pushed as hard as I could in order to finish strongly. I came through the mud puddle for the last time, around the course turns in the grass, and through the finish.

I placed 5th but felt like I held my own against the A riders in Ohio. Not having raced for two and a half months, I knew I was not as fast as I would be by the end of cyclocross season. I am happy I went to Ohio to kick start myself back into racing. I had a successful weekend.


 

An unidentified rider bunny hops the haybale barriers at the Barnyard Cyclocross on Saturday.

Jed Schneider (Alan Factory Team) hops over the barriers on his way to winning Saturday's A Men's race.

Trish Albert (Team Peggy-Boneshakers) comes through the start/finish area in Sunday's B Women's race.

Lisa Randall (Alan Factory Team) gets some tender loving care from her songueir, her husband Chris. Lisa was tired after a winning a 9 hour adventure race with her team on Saturday.

Lisa Randall rides hard to a 7th place finish in the Women's Elite Race.

The winner of the Men's B race celebrates.

Daryl Sawyer (Nalley) flies through the sand pit on his way to getting 2nd place in Sunday's B Men's race.