I'm headed out to the race the Morris County NJ 40+ Cat 4 race at 2:15 this Saturday. I can take two riders and their bikes along if anyone is interested in going. I'll be leaving Brooklyn at about noon. I can probably stick around for the general Cat 4 race which starts at 3:00 but would have to head back as soon as that ends. Contact me directly at neilxross@yahoo.com or 917-579-6580 if you're inetersted in going.

How'd it go folks?

I saw Josh and Neil at the race, didn't see them ride though. It was Neil's first cx foray in a bunch of years. I'll let them tell their tales. Overall, I recommend the race. Check it out if you have an opportunity next year. It's on the grounds of a former insane asylum, which is where the park road leads to.

The course was pretty good overall. It was distinctly two halves, one to the left of the start finish and one to the right. The first half was a super-wide start/finish on pavement, like four or six car lanes wide, or at least that's how it felt. then after a few hundred meters a left turn over a curb (and wood planking to smooth the transition) onto grass. Then lots of turns including a tough downhill to uphill 180, several turns around trees, and completed by a downhill into up dismount and then hill runup. Just as that was over, you were treated to a downhill, around a tree, then up to a curb, then left, which gave you a meter at most of usable riding space. A sidehill followed by a 180, uphill turn to get more(!) sidehill, and a slow dismount atop the rise.

Then you cross the street, have lots of turns around trees and lamp poles, which was completed by a Cinnabon of death before backing out and turning onto the finishing straight for 150-200 meters and then the line.

The A race had 24 starters or so. Plenty of room for moving up before the turn. I lined up at the back alongside Edwin Bull of Van Dessel who did his patented "I haven't touched my bike in weeks" aside before starting. I knew that meant he was ready to twist the pain dial. We started, I moved up to about 12th before the grass, moved up another place through the early turns, clipped my pedal on a root and held it and all was good until I hit that first dismount. Then my fitness told me no faster. By this point, Edwin was at the front.

Lost some places here--a guy came charging from the back up the hill looking as if his bike, in his arms had jets and was dragging him up the hill.

Settled into a rhythm. Nearly hit the lampole on the course. Looked like I was settling in to 15th.

Second lap, second half, got caught in the tape. Lost three places getting started. Sat on the third guys wheel. Found my rhythm.

Third lap, second guy who passed me dropped out. Looked like he had crashed.

Fourth lap, dropped the third guy for good.

I think it was eight laps in total. Finished solo in 16th. Guess this gives me NJ CX Cup points. Happy to be back in the race. 2nd race of the season.

Tip for Garmin users--you can set your 500, 800, and probably 705 to record intervals whenever you pass a pre-set marker. Like the finish line. It can be a good insight into analyzing your race.

Since MP asked:

This was first 'cross race in 3 years -- since my leg reconstruction -- so I did not have tremendous aspirations. I did have a bit of a mental block about getting out there again and going through that first 15 minutes of pain in 'cross race. The short of it is that it was good that I didn't have high aspirations. I finished 20th (in the 40+ C field of 26).

Needless to say, the heavy breathing started in pretty quickly, both from the stress of the effort and the pollen spores trapped in nasal hair. That sucked. On the other hand I felt very comfortable with the features of the course and was able to take the tight corners and few other technical-ish features faster than some of the competition (perhaps due to my diminutive stature, the few mountain bike races I've done this season and playing around with a BMX bike lately at the Cunningham pump track and Owl's head skate park). Anyway, moving smoothly through the compressed irregular turns without slowing much probably allowed me to finish the race in a slightly less dishonorable position than I might otherwise have -- despite my rustiness and lack o' fitness. I started in the third of three rows and was in a daze for most of the starting sprint along about 200 feet of wide roadway with a hard left into the the narrow grassy stuff. (I could have placed better in the opening sprint had I bothered to think about before the race. More on that later.) I probably passed 2 riders during the first 1/2 lap. The field opened up quickly and by the end of he first lap I no longer felt hemmed in by traffic. I had one guy tagging along behind me for the first 20 minutes of the forty minute race. He finally dropped off and I was on my own for another 10 minutes at which point I noticed another rider from the back of the field pulling a bit closer to me with every turn. (One of the nice things about a course with that many turns you get a good view of the field in front of and behind you.) At some point it started to feel likely that he would catch me, so I laid back a little and cooperated with the inevitable. As he came by me he grunted "work together" (unless I misheard, and really called me a "jerk on a tether"). Anyhow, I stayed on his wheel and got a pulled through the one straight fast dirt section where there theoretically could have been some drafting advantage. I couldn't come around him to work. We went through the pirochete together (more below) and then spilled out onto the stretch of pavement at the start/finish area. I thought it was the second-to-last ("penultimate" for the fancy pants out there) lap. The reality was that that was the finish. As a result I just rode through the finish without trying to out-sprint the guy I was following. Then again, sprinting for 19th place with a guy who just pulled you lacks the kind of heroism and class upon which I prode myself (in my dreams where I have the opportunity to be heroic and classy).

Suffice it to say that I'm very happy to have that first 'cross race behind me after several years off. Sadly, I was pretty bummed to have my worst suspicions confirmed, i.e., that that 'cross wrecks havoc on my messed up leg--more so than any other form velo competition I've engaged in in the last couple of years. The bolts looked they were trying to push their way through my shin this morning--the result of swollen scar tissue.

Continued

A few observations:
THE COURSE: Word has it that last year's course left much be desired and that this year's iteration was much improved. Never having raced there before I can't comment, but can tell you that I thought this course was quite nicely designed. Nothing ingenious; but in my mind pretty much as good as it could get given the terrain limitations of the park. As it stood, the course was all quite ride-able with tight linked turns and and a nicely set tightening spirochete section (a/k/a "Cinnabon"). It was roughly divided into two sections with the paved start/finish road serving as divider. The lower section had a few of the more interesting topographical features, as well as a barrier positioned before a short run up, a short (maybe 30 foot) off-camber section, and the requisite double barrier. 98% of the course was dry, with one area with a thin top layer of mud. It slowed up the momentum a bit but could hardly qualify as "mud" in the cyclocrosstic context. If the course was wet it would have been a whole different ballgame. I'm guessing that each lap of the course for me probably 8-1/2 minutes-ish. (I think JP mentioned that his laps were at about 7 minutes so that kind of makes sense.)

THE VIBE: With smaller fields than the big attraction races, the event felt more homegrown--in a good way (for me). (Some might consider it a "training race.") The vibe was positive with friendly competitors, dogs, kids, and waffles. My race wasn't scheduled to go off 'til 2:15 and I really enjoyed not having to wake up at zero o'clock to haul my tired ass out there. The gestalt reminded me more of the old Sussex races (among my favorites) than the Granogues of the world. (Though both styles have their distinct attributes and negatives.)

THINGS I DID RIGHT: I warmed up on a trainer. / I pre-rode the top section of the course. / Got the lowdown on the bottom part of the course from JP./I raced.
THINGS I DID WRONG: I totally forgot to look at the start. I could have about a handful of places had I thought, even for a second, of what it would be like. /I let another rider overtake me thinking we had a lap and half to go when I could have staved him off for what turned out to be the final half lap. / I forgot to cool down.

KISSENA BRETHREN:
By the time I got there JP had raced already. It sounded like it went relatively well for him.
Josh Caesar's race went off right after mine ended. He looked in good svelte form holding a nice steady pace lap after lap. I didn't get see his finish though so I don't know how he ended up in the grand scheme of things. I'm sure we'll get more detail from them after they've wound down from their West Point experiences today.

Apologies for the epic tome.