Race Report: PICX #6, The One Not On My Schedule

So I decided to race today even though it wasn't on my schedule. It was the last of the Pride Series and I'm easily swayed when it comes to racing my bike. The course was very hilly and bumpy, had a lot of off camber sections. I was fast off the start until I hit the first off camber 180, everyone broke hard, including me, going into it. I just didn't accelerate out of it as fast. I was doing well, making up ground, until the barriers on lap 2. That's when I hit my speed/cadence sensor as I was going across the barriers, turning it into my rear wheel. (similar to what happened at the Creve Coeur night race) I stopped to adjust it and lost all sort of ground. I spent the rest of the race playing catch up, never quite getting there. Highlights/low lights of the race:

This gives a good overview of the course and the barriers from hell. *Photo cred: Mike D.

• I was never very confident on the first 180 off camber. It was a tight turn and I had visions of my back wheel slipping and me ending up taking a swim in the lake. (I have a small phobia of lakes, turns, and cx racing...not sure why).
• Remounts after the barriers were HORRIBLE. The barriers were uphill and off camber. I couldn't get the timing down at all.
• I was strong on the hills and on the 180 off camber around a tree after the barriers. I was able to get a great line on that turn every lap.
• There were four landscaping ties in a turn later in the course. I rode them once successfully during warm up and fell the second time I tried to ride them so I decided to run them during the race. I was able to hold my position or gain ground by doing this because most had to slow down so much going over them.

For me the most important part of the race today was, in spite of being last in the A race, I had fun again. My three previous races had left me shaking my head and wondering why I was investing time, energy, bruises and money in this part of the discipline. The course today and my time on it got me back in the cx spirit.

The second 180, right after the one by the lake. I could smile because the water wasn't near. *Photo cred: Mike D.