No Repeat at the Page Farm

     The Cross the Way Cyclocross Series returned to my favorite venue this past weekend. Kurt Page hosted the race at his farm in Murfreesboro, TN. I loved this course last year. It was technical and fun, with lots of corners, some mud and some dirt humps to pump over. And I won. That always helps you like a place.

     The course was a little different this year, but still great. They opened up some of the wooded sections, but there were still plenty of turns to negotiate and humps to roll over. Despite an enormous amount of rain during the week, the course was dry, with only a couple of slick spots to be found.

Course layout



Masters winner Troy Tucker

The course featured a short section through a barn

     I was again doing the double, racing both the Pro/1/2 and Singlespeed races. Like I said in my last post, I've been off the bike lately working on my mechanics. I think I've passed the point of feeling really rested from a break and have begun to lose fitness. I felt good in my warm-up while I was out on the road. I made a few adjustments to the bike during my warm-up as well. My Redline cross bike is very small. The frame is short and it really has me in a different position than what I have on my other bikes. So I tweaked a few things in order to stretch me out and allow me to use my glutes more. I took a quick lap on the course right before the start. Halfway through the lap, I started feeling weak and sort of sick. I thought maybe it was just nerves and it would go away once the race got going.

     We had six riders in the Pro/1/2 race for 60 minutes of Page Farm fun. I had a terrible start. I was in too big of a gear and got smoked off the line. I was last through the first turn. It took me a few turns to get up to 4th. By the time I got there, the lead three had 10 seconds on me already!

Pro/1/2 Start

Jeremy Chambers and Tanner Hurst got away out front on the first lap

Tanner begins to pull away from Jeremy

Me chasing in 4th

     I felt so bad the first lap and dropped a lot of time to the three leaders. I kept my cool though, hoping the legs would come around after a few laps. The three up front were Jeremy Chambers, Tanner Hurst and a Cumberland University rider. The Cumberland guy seemed to be struggling to keep the pace of Jeremy and Tanner. I just stalked him, knowing that he would fade at some point. Finally on lap 3, he began to drop back. I started gaining on him ever so slightly. Then, he totally blew. I erased the 10 second gap in one section. I passed him over the barriers, but then dropped my chain and he passed me back. After remounting, I ran him down and went back by into 3rd.

 

Up to 3rd place now

     I had a hard time cornering the first half of the race. I was slipping and just not comfortable taking the corners fast. The pre-race adjustments to my position did not turn out to be a good idea for handling, but I did do well recruiting my glutes. I didn't care if I had to slow down, I was going to hold true to my new pedaling style and use my glutes more. I made numerous mistakes, dropping my chain again over the barriers and falling three times on a steep, off-camber hill climb. I just couldn't do anything right today. I kept feeling worse too, getting weaker with each lap. I held on through the suffering to take 3rd. Tanner slipped away from Jeremy halfway through the race to get the win. Jeremy has a pair of 2nd places in the series and now leads the points. After my mechanical at race #1, I needed a win today. Third place today basically puts me out of contention for the overall. I'm in 4th place overall, 21 points behind Jeremy. It would take a miracle for me to pull it out, but a podium is still possible.

Me coming through the barn



     I felt terrible as I lined up for the Singlespeed race. The series title was still a hope in this class after my 3rd place finish at Fontanel. I tried to focus and gather up all the strength I had left as I sat on the line. I knew my big gear would again be hard to turn with all the corners, but I was confident that I could corner well and overcome.

     The start was quick and my big gear was slow getting off the line, putting me towards the back of the group. I was patient the first lap and got the opportunities I needed to move up. There were a few crashes that helped me get positions back without having to battle for them. I was up to 3rd by the end of lap 1, holding onto the wheel of Nate Newton. Mike Edens was getting away, so I passed Nate and went after Mike. He was a little too fast in the tight sections. I was cornering sooo much better than in the first race, but it wasn't enough to run Mike down.  My big gear was eating my legs alive.



2nd, 3rd and 4th places on lap 1 of the Singlespeed race

The tricky off-camber run-up

Buzz Lightyear was manning the pits

Lawrence Czarnecki

Making the pass on Nate Newton for 2nd

Junior winner Carson Beckett

Singlespeed points lead. Maybe I can at least get one win in the series. The final race at Lock 4 next weekend will be interesting. We will be battling for points and also reconning the site of the Tennessee State Championships that Lock 4 will host on December 18.

Running from Nate     photo by Ann Beckett

Mike Edens

Photo by Ann Beckett

Video: Pro/1/2 and Singlespeed race clips