This past Sunday was the first race of the Seattle CX series for the year, and to make things interesting they used a brand new course. The weather was cloudy but dry for most of the day but the rain rolled in around noon, just as I was getting to the venue. The course was a mix of fast grass sections with some tricky off-camber sections and tied together with a run through the BMX park and on the opposite side of the course was a brief trip through the woods. A very large course, but with lots of fun little sections that kept you going full-steam and paying full attention to the course. The rain added an additional element by turning much of the course into deeper mud or slick grass.
While warming up and riding around the course in the rain, the layout was definitely going to keep your focus and use your handling skills. Shortly before the start of the Elite race though, the rain stopped and the ground started drying a little. This made for tacky, thick mud and would cause some trouble.
During the call-ups I ended up in the 3rd row of the 29 starters, so not that great, but I did set myself up behind Zack McDonald who is consistently fast. My plan paid off and I had a great start, hitting the first corner roughly around 10th. I was able to grab the wheels in front of me and hang with the lead group through the next few corners and into the BMX park. We then flew into the twisting off-camber back section and then dropped onto the asphalt and headed back toward the front of the course. I remained in great position as we entered the single-track forest and back onto the grass fields.
At this point I knew I was in great position and continued to work to stick onto the wheel in front of me, holding to a top spot. We hit the barriers and then swung back onto the front stretch to start the second lap. I managed to move up as a rider started to fade, however some other riders were still neck-to-neck with me, so there was no letting up.
We powered through the course again without incident, however just before the final corners, disaster struck. The thick mud had started coating my chain and it was enough to pop the chain of the chainring when I shifted down into the low gears to handle the tight corners. I jumped off to get the chain reset, but quickly lost 5-6 spots to the riders who were on my tail. I finally got going and started racing away, actually making up one of the spots again during the early section of the lap. I continued through the course and then coming into the same corner I dropped the chain again! Again riders went past and now I was getting quite frustrated, however I now figured out that the drop was only happening when I was in the lowest 2 gears. I continued racing along and trying to claw back my lost spots.
Through the next 4 laps, I only dropped the chain one more time as I accidently shifted into the low gear, but got back going much quicker now that I knew what was going on. During my final drop I ended up behind Zack who had now lapped me. I got a nice few corners on his wheel to see his lines before being back in my race to make up positions.
As I rolled across the finish line, I still felt great, ready for more laps. I ended up 25th, so far back, but not last. I was 9 minutes behind Zack, but was only lapped by the two leaders who are both Pros, so not terrible. I only wish I was able to use up some of the energy in holding onto a great spot further up the field, but at least I know that the mechanical was caused simply by the lack of a chain catcher on my bike. A cheap and easy fix, and then it will be back to me to make the race work. Time to get ready for Lake Sammamish next weekend, since I know I can do well there.
