WUT?!?!

Charm City CX was pretty awesome. A great vibe and a challenging course. Lots of climbing, cornering, descending, off camber, bumpiness and other stuff that make cross awesome. Add on top of all that two sandpits in which you had to turn IN the sandpit (think of two volleyball courts split lengthwise). The turns “could” be ridden but Jeff, Eloy and my assessment to ride half way and run at the turn was validated when we watched Jeremy Powers and the other elite riders do the same thing. Finally, there was a HUGE flyover with 20 steps up and a steep ramp down. It wasn’t a deciding factor but definitely added to the difficulty of the race. 

For me the most challenging aspects were the heat (it was 85 degrees - in October!) and the fact that racing the 50+ 1234 meant my race was at 1pm. I completely messed up my eating schedule. I didn’t eat late morning and was hungry before my race but didn’t want to eat before going all out for 45 Minutes. Lesson learned. Now I’ll eat 3 hours before regardless of whether I am hungry or not. 

The highlight of my race was when I ran over a snake during a descent. Yes, a snake. There is a section that drops into a wooded area and suddenly there was what seemed like a 3 foot snake on the course. Maybe it wasn’t quite that long, but it seemed like it. The guy ahead of me and I were going too fast to avoid him. I actually saw his fangs flail as he was run over. I recorded the race on my Virb (poor man’s GoPro). I look forward to finding the footage. Maybe I can take solace that he was only run over by under inflated cross tires instead of road tires. 

The rest of my race went well. The incessant small climbs sapped my legs, but Tim’s microbursts prepared me well. These guys in the 50+ are old but damn they are fast. I took 26th from 50 starters. Four spots better than cross results predicted. 

I’ll be back again. It’s totally worth the drive. I encourage you to put it on your list. 

Charm City Reports

Day 1
40+ 1/2/3 Masters: Aspholm, Donahue, Nieters, etc. 2:15pm 85+ degrees.

• Course is everything cyclocross. Flyover is huge and awesome.
• I start ok, but demons totally get me today. I did not have a good race.
• Have a bullet list of excuses I can email you. lmk.
  
• The Elite races are spectacular in every sense -- best I have seen Powers race in 2 seasons.

Day 2
40+ 3/4 Masters: Bertucco, Grehan, etc. 9 am 80 degrees, high humidity, light rain

• Preride is super humid, sweaty sweaty sweaty
• Light rain helps as we stage, but still stupid humid hot
• Patrick and Mark are staged first row, I'm second row
• Mark and I have good starts, Patrick is bogged by other riders, but recovers by the holeshot
• Prologue lap Patrick and I are in a group of about 4 or 5, we basically stay together thru all the transitions -- a set of 2 step stairs, sand pints, crazy jump feature, planks...
• I figure these are who I'll be fighting all race, but then we hit the huge flyover stairs and Patrick flies over it, he comes out 4~5 seconds ahead!
• "it's gonna hurt to close this" I tell myself
• Patrick will keep moving forward, and killing that flyover.
• I end up fighting with a few people for top 15, specially Gui Roschke
  
• Gui is faster than me in all the fitness and pedaly sections, I'm better at all the transitions and technical bits -- this is kinda foreign to me
• I'll finish 16, literally sweaty hugging, high fiving Gui and whoever was behind us
• Patrick has a stellar race, finishing 4th 
• Mark is 3rd, motivated by Patrick's chase
• This place, this course, this location: Charm City is everything you love about racing bicycles.

Let's go race bikes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCG9synNo8w

Here is some on board video of Sunday at Charm. Aside from me flubbing my start and getting bumped before I really get started you can see Eloy and I passing each other in the first two laps. Jeff was on the sidelines yelling at me to catch Marc. Of course you can't hear him over the sound grinding my derailleur was making. Still don't know what that was about.

https://youtu.be/HvGPS6RhpwU

Here is the 50+ 1234 race from Saturday if you are interested. Fast - competitive group. Really hot weather (for cross). No other Kissena's in the field but you get a good idea of what the flyovers were like. 

https://youtu.be/dKkEczC9KNo

^for the record, it is NEVER #toosoon to post about CX

Charm City registration is open.

In 2017, this was the best cyclocross race in the Country. Be there.

https://www.bikereg.com/charmcitycross

Totally agree with eloy on this. It’s worth the trip

it is happening again!

getting bigger everyday

27 steps!!

GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY!

Awesome race weekend. The Charm City course isn't to be missed. Good to see Eloy, Patrick and Anthony racing there as well. 

Sad lesson learned: you can't always trust the BikeReg page, even for an otherwise very polished event. Here's a screenshot of the BikeReg page I took this morning:



That's also how I remember it reading when pre-reg opened back in August. I took this to mean that Cat 4s would be called up by crossresults points. Around the same time, I had already dropped some dough on registrations for Nittany and Gloucester, so I was happy to see that Charm's call-ups would reward riders' racing ability instead of the ability to commit their calendar and checking account to a race eight weeks in advance. 

Well, not this time. It turned out we were staged by order of registration. Day 1, I was 135 riders behind the front row. Yes, you read that right. And I wasn't even all the way in back! Our field size was capped at 150 and sold out. Incredible attendance that shows just how well-regarded this race is. But I was already fighting disappointment, because I had high expectations: if we'd been staged by crossresults I would've been on the second row, and in that case I felt I would have had a good chance at the podium. But all I could do now was take my call-up in the back and race hard.

In 42 minutes I managed to race up to 20th. The feature-laden course was damp and grassy, and the best lines became more apparent as the grass sheared off. The straightaway and slightly downhill approach to the signature flyover turned into 20-yard "run" through a shin-deep bog. There were three additional required dismounts--planks, steps, and these very tall wooden obstacles of unknown purpose that I heard called "horse jumps." The sand section stayed firm enough to ride, but in traffic it was sometimes faster to run. So were many other sections for me, especially on the crowded first lap. 

Day 2 had a smaller field--"only" 97 racers started. This time I was the 101st call-up, and my goal was to race into the top ten and nab at least one upgrade point. I actually felt pretty optimistic coming into Sunday's race. The day before, I had manage to pass 115 people, and another NYC racer I've been dueling with all season had taken 5th. Somewhat ridiculously, I felt that going from 101 to 10 wasn't out of the question.

About 1/3 of the course was run in the opposite direction, to great effect, with the rest unchanged. Well, unchanged except for the excellent ruts and berms that had formed by the previous day's races, including the UCI C.1 pro women and men. These made the course even faster in some sections, with some thrilling off-cambers and twisty turns where you could carry a lot more speed than when it was just slippery grass.

The race was a blast. Marc Bertucco, Patrick, Eloy, Anthony and others cheered me on. Thank you all! And eventually I heard from one of them I was inside the top ten! I was in eighth (though I didn't realize it) as I led a group of three into the final corner, which necessitated climbing a muddy kicker onto the pavement. It was a chaotic finish. A rider we were lapping took the best line up the slope, the one I'd taken every lap so far. I chose a new line, and choose poorly. I had to dismount and push my bike a couple steps uphill to level ground. As I remounted on the pavement, Ian, the NYC rider who'd taken 5th the day before, came through the inside line of our left turn onto the finishing straight. I saw him crank out a huge pedal stoke--so big, in fact, that his rear tire slipped on the muddy pavement, and he went down right in front of me. I stayed upright, but lost what little speed I had manage to regain. I got passed twice before I crossed the line. 10th place. [Edit: The field size for Cat 4--which are the only ones I can count towards my upgrade--was smaller than I realized, and I missed the points by one place.]

This was a great race! Highly recommended to anybody who want to see the best East Coast 'cross has to offer. 

report forthcoming, but meanwhile...
https://youtu.be/YFy2yR6crzc

Charm City was awesome. Here are a couple of highlights:

The course: They removed the sand pits and dismount around the old tree stump (near reg) and added a “Crazy” off camber near the zoo. That off camber was super steep and long. As the weekend progressed, what used to be grass turned into a dusty dirt. A lot of tripoding with kicking occurred. Time could be made or lost on this feature. Otherwise, there was a lot of climbing, descending, and turning. It was a technical course in that there was a lot of dusty off camber turns where one could easily lose a wheel.

The people: The atmosphere is awesome. Not only are there a lot of tents and vendors, but the energy and number of people is awesome. The NY peeps all supported each other including Mineola, KruisCX, No 22 and Sun and Air. Great to hang/travel with Eloy. Always good to see Marc Bertucco and his family (even their dog penny was cheering us on - or at least howling while I rode by - same thing really).

The elite races: The women’s race was good, but Becca dominated the field. The men’s race was super exciting as Curtis and Hyde were giving a master class in team tactics to beat Kerry Werner. In the end Werner clawed back every time and went on to win the Saturday race by half a wheel length. Super exciting to watch 

Our races:
My Saturday race was okay. I ended up 16 out 62 and Eloy was 21st. We both went hard, but just felt like missed something. Sunday I got 5th and Eloy was 11th out of a similar sized field. We were both much more pleased with that performance. 

This race continues to be one of my favorite on the calendar

Here is a video of Saturday’s 40+ 345 race

https://youtu.be/fLzS-ZvoU_c

Sunday’s race is still being processed

Photos from the on board video

Saturday: 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/BWTM8JdR5KQWrsRG7

Sunday:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/xfYXkE1AeowrAEyb6

Patrick and I headed to Baltimore in search of cyclocross.

Charm City did not disappoint, it was the stupid ass super hotness.

2019 Charm was maybe the best cyclocross course I have ever ridden. It was amazing.

Like the past few years, it featured the biggest flyover ever made in the whole world, and in 2019 at the top of the highest point on Druid Hill park, the most hardcore steepest ever mega pro off "if I love you hard enough will this tire hold?" off off off camber. 

It was awesome to be there with Patrick. Marc Bertucco and a few other NYC friends, but, well, you reading this, I missed you. Honestly wished you were there too.

Day 1.

• 80ish Masters 40+ 3/4 field
• Patrick first row
• Ed Nessen also first row
• I'm fourth row, but Bertucco totally lets me have his third row spot. We agree that it probably doesn't matter, but I take it because of course it totally matters
• Traffic on lap 1 is insane, but keep on keeping on
• Get thru the off off off camber in mega fire, slowly closing the gap to Patrick
• Towards the end of lap two I actually pass Patrick for a moment
• He outsprints me to the top of the hill to the mega off camber
• Lacking oxygen at this altitude, I mega fuck up the offffffffff caaaaammmmbering
• I keep Patrick and his group of 3 in my sights for most of the rest race, but no dice, they are flying
• Eventually battle with Chris Kolster and Sean Chisham
• Chris drops us with about 1 to go, attacking the tricky barrier remount
• Getting out of the off off camber I leave Sean in my wake, Sean bombs the descend to the finish, as we deal with some lapped traffic, he catches and out sprints me to the line
• Still, I am happy with my ride
• Leaving tons of details out, but feels like I finally put all the pieces together. Basic: Best race of 2019.
• Patrick 16, I'm 21ist 
• Happy I had a good race, but a bit frustrated, can't yet crack a top 20 in 2019.
• Automatic goals... because...

There's always Day 2.

• 60ish Masters 40+ 3/4 field
• Patrick 1st row
• I'm again 3rd row
• Goals are clear, do better than yesterday, keep the throttle on all race, top 20 or death
• Course is awesome flowy, some sections are reversed, but all dismounts, the flyover, the finish approach, and the crazy off camber are all in the same direction.
• Sweet to get a second chance to nail these sections
• Patrick is on firah, I can see him for the first half of the first lap, but never again.
• The first time on the off camber traffic is crazy town scrum omg hold on hold on!
• Eventually settle with a group with Ian Cameron and Benjamin Gronvall from United Healthcare
• The battle is real, and we are passing each other at different sections, always fighting at the top for first dibs at the off camber
• Last lap, I put on a hardcore push at the top of the climb and fly over the offffff camber, get a gap, and fly downhill inspired by the way the pros took the last few corners.
• Pro cornering, bro.
• Totally works, I keep my gap, even almost catch another rider at the line.
• Patrick 5th FIRAH!! I'm 11th.
• Best crossresult score since 2017, I'll take it.

Let's go race bikes!!

Those are some kick-ass results guys. Congrats.

Thanks Jim. We missed you. Eloy rode your tubular wheels

here is the video from Sunday’s 40+ 345 race

like Eloy I ended up with some awesome crossresults point. Sweet

https://youtu.be/4DuucF7lDc0

maybe a bit too long... but super interesting to see White riding the stairs. He did not ride them at all Saturday, and that gave the advantage to Werner. White came back early on Sunday, and tried multiple times until he could hop and ride the stairs. Pro.
https://youtu.be/R5C4P02eBPo

This course looks soooo rad and I have major FOMO (Post-fomo? not sure the right acronym here but you get the idea). Awesome work guys!