Traditionally, I struggle at this race. The courses are narrow and difficult. They do not allow for much rest. This tends to favor the stronger riders who can handle a really high pace for the full 60 minutes. I have never really been this type of rider and this race is always hard for me. I have only finished the final day once on each of the two occasions I have raced Crossroads. But that's part of why I go. I enjoy being challenged and this race definitely does that for me.
I felt stronger and more prepared this year. The mountain bike has forced me to be able to go hard for two hours and I have gained more power over the course of the season. I didn't expect to be in the front of the sprint, but I did feel like I could at least last longer than I have in previous attempts, even though I have felt a bit flat the past few weeks.
The opening race was in Mocksville, NC on Thursday evening. We decided to stay in Mocksville the first night and were delighted to find a newly renovated hotel on the edge of town. Our room was brand new. We may have been the first people to ever stay in it.
The race was as surprising as the hotel room, but not in the same kind of way. I got absolutely destroyed. There's no other way to describe it. I felt good, but I got my teeth kicked in. I flatted just a few minutes before the start, which did not help things. I had to limp back to the car and call Shannon. She had the car keys and was on the other side of the course, but she was able to run over and help me change the tube in time to make the start.
The course for the opening night is a tight rectangle in downtown Mocksville. There is a hill between turns 3 and 4, which made for a sprint every lap. It was my first night crit in a while. It seemed so dark in turn 1. That's a sketchy corner anyway, but this year it was extra scary. There was a shadow on the exit of the turn that made it almost impossible to distinguish the curb from the street. I said a prayer almost every time we went into that corner.
The pace was brutally fast, maybe the fastest start to a race I have ever experienced. I couldn't recover after the hill before we were on it again. It was single-file hammering all the way around. I was not ready for that at all. I got popped at less than seven minutes and pulled at just over 10. Ouch. I saw 185 heart rate the whole race. I cannot hold that for more than a minute or two without some rest. It was disappointing, but at least I felt good! I didn't get credited with a finish position so I have no idea where I ended up, maybe around 55-60 out of 64 riders.
The Davie County Courthouse on the front stretch of the Mocksville course
As for the people that did have a good night, Ben Renkema won the Pro/1/2 out of a break. In the Women's race, Rachel McKinnon was the winner. There is a short video below of some clips from the Pro/1/2 race.
Video: Pro/1/2 clips from Mocksville
We were looking for a place for a morning spin on Friday and discovered that the 2016 USPRO and Masters Time Trial National Championship course was not far away. It was drizzling rain, but we had a good time on the rolling course near North Wilkesboro.
On the edge of the foothills
The sun popped out after our ride. We drove by the old North Wilkesboro Speedway, which sadly is falling apart. That track was one of the first speedways used in NASCAR, back in the day when they actually raced stock cars and it was more grassroots racing instead of the corporate monster it has become. I couldn't believe it was just sitting there rotting. What a waste of such a great and historic facility.
Driving in to North Wilkesboro Speedway
The Winston Cup Series, back when NASCAR was great
Statesville, NC was the site of Friday's racing. It would be another night race for me, which means we had all day to kill. With us changing hotels and our hotel being an hour in the opposite direction, we had nowhere to go to get out of the sun. Shannon has been wanting to go to a movie for a while so we went to see Jason Bourne. We got a cool seat all afternoon and saw a great movie. It's just as good as the other Bourne movies in my opinion. It seemed fitting that we see this movie while at a bike race. I can't count the number of times we have watched the other Bourne movies while sitting in a hotel at a bike race. It seems there is always a Bourne marathon going on when we are traveling. I just watched them in June at the Jackson, GA SERC race.
Even with the movie, we still got to the race course before the first races began. I enjoyed sitting back watching the other races play out. The Women's race was filled with attacks until the final laps. Then they did some of the slowest laps I have ever seen in a bike race, which left them all rested for an exciting last lap. Rachel McKinnon took the win again just like in Mocksville.
Blue of the Women on turn 3
The Cat. 4/5 race was exciting as well, with a stray rain shower coming over during the race. That caused a few crashes and split up the group. Before the race I noticed Ben Schiermeyer in staging. Ben is the mechanic for pro motocross rider Justin Barcia. You can't miss Ben as he has one of the biggest, most recognizable beards out there. I knew he and Barcia rode bikes, but I didn't know Ben was racing. He put in some big efforts in the race at Statesville, leading the group on many laps and ending up with a top five in Cat. 5. Ben raced the whole weekend and was top five in every race. I love to see sports crossing paths and people not being afraid to get involved more than one sport. The rain left a rainbow over town, which was appropriate for a memorial following the Cat. 4/5 race for a local shop owner who was recently killed by a car while riding.
Ben Schiermeyer and his beard
Ben on the front doing work
Cat. 4/5s on the hill
Faint rainbow hanging over Statesville during the Cat. 4/5 race
Ben hammering the climb
During my warm-up spin on the trainer I watched one of my old teammates, Dan Underwood, win the Masters race. I have not talked to Dan in many years. He used to live near me in Clarksville when I was a Junior, then he moved to the D.C. area. I have seen him a few times at this race, but I only seem to see him during the race, never before or after. I was hoping to talk to him and catch up, but again this year I only saw him while he was inflicting pain on people.
The race result for me was pretty much the same in Statesville as in Mocksville. I was more ready for the start this time and got a better position the first lap, but I still ended up off the back at seven minutes and pulled at 12. This time it was other people that got me dropped. I felt much better and rode the corners well. Again, it was hard to see the curbs. They had painted the gutter and curbs black, which made them very difficult to make out in the dark. The start was fast again and guys were getting gapped on lap 3. I closed a few gaps before getting my heart rate pegged out of my throat again. I held it for a minute then went pop. There were some strange gaps tonight. I was far enough up to the front that there shouldn't have been so many gaps, but guys were sitting up everywhere. What was most irritating was that when I popped, most of the guys that had caused those gaps came back past me still on the back of the group. Maybe that's a new tactic to split up the group. If so, it worked. Out of 65 riders, only about 25 finished. I ended up 50th. Ben Renkema won again in a super close finish after he broke a bike after free laps were over. He took a bike from a teammate and was able to chase back on, move up and then take the sprint win. That's pretty impressive on such a fast, tight course. Moving up is hard to do when you are fresh!
Super close finish for the Pro/1/2
A video from Statesville is posted below, which includes clips from several of the races. Next up is Asheboro, then on to Salisbury for the finale.
Video: Clips from Statesville
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