Starcrossed 2014

  Starcrossed 2014 is in the books. This year the race was no longer UCI ranked, meaning that the Elite race would be Pro/1/2 instead of Pro/1 only, meaning that I would be lining up for the big race, the main event. This was both exciting and unnerving as I looked over the entry list. I have raced against some of these guys as they cleaned up the local races, however this would be the first time I was in an event they were all battling with other pros for a coveted purse ($2500 for first place!).
  I arrived early to the event to ensure plenty of course recon and pre-ride time. It was a hot day (upper 80s) but since we raced at 8pm, the temperature would luckily drop a little by then. The course was very similar to previous editions of the race, featuring a mixture of tight hairpins and longer straights the cut through and around the Marymoor velodrome in Redmond. Also, as usual for this race, the ground was hard, rutted, and dusty.
  The starting chute had been relocated to the backside of the course and dumped you into the dirt access road along the back of the velodrome. From here the course shot over a rough section of grass before a corner along the fence and out toward the front along another rough section. At the end of the straight the course popped over a small raise before a 90-degree turn to the left and another sprint over bumpy grass. This sprint ended with a small gravel/asphalt section that cut through the fence and a 180 to sprint back out toward the highway. A 90-degree left threw you in a straight heading right for one of the night spot-lights before a 180 and back toward the fence. Here an off-camber 90-degree right led into a long bouncy stretch along the team tents before a 180 and into the velodrome park again. A small climb up the embankment of the velodrome before a drop down the hill and a sharp 90-degree left up the hill over a series of log barriers. At the top of the logs it was immediately back on the bike and down the hill into a washed-out 90-degree left along with the entrance to the pits. Powering along the side of the velodrome, we would then race to the back entrance to the track and dump into the infield. A series of winding corners would trace along the infield before the finish-line sprint (very bouncy). After the line, the course hooked left and then right and shot the racers onto the velodrome track to race toward the front of the course. A tight right turn to reenter the infield before a sharp right and a straight into the beer-garden barriers. The sandy exit from the barriers led to the front track entry and we were back out of the velodrome. A few winding corners took us up and down the velodrome hill a few times before sprinting along the back grounds to the other entry of the pits. Here it was another 180 corner and then a short dusty sprint back to the access road to begin again.
  After a few pre-ride laps of the course, I definitely was remembering last year and how the course starts to wear you down. My legs were feeling strong and I was ready to race, however the ladies would have the course first. I spent my time warming up more, making sure I was hydrated and fueled, and psyched up for the hour of racing ahead of me. As I expected, the temperature started to drop as the sun went behind the horizon and darkness rolled in. My field began to line up outside the course, and it was again impressive to be part of a race featuring big names like Carl Decker (Giant Factory Racing), Zach McDonald (KCCX Elite Cyclocross), Barry Wicks and Spencer Paxson (Kona), Russell Stevenson (2013 35+ World CX Champion), and even Oregon framebuilder Ira Ryan. Since I am not a Pro or Cat 1 racer, I was happy with my 4th row starting position.
  At the gun, we were off. I had a good start and moved past some of the other racers in my area as we wrapped along the back of the course. We continued to haul ass along the course for the entire first lap, people battling for positions and working through the field of racers. I was definitely feeling fast and was rubbing elbows with some big racers. Even though I was running low pressure (~22psi) in my tires, and riding a titanium bike (which theoretically imparts some vibration relief), the course was bouncy and rough. The dust, which in the past has been near-blinding in some areas, was relatively light for our race, and I only really thought about it being dusty on the lead into the dirt access road that formed the back straightaway.
  The race started to fall apart on the 3rd lap, as the leaders broke free to form a crazy battle upfront for the huge prize. I continued to lay it out and managed to stay in the "main" group, roughly the 3rd bunch on the course. We were hustling to keep up the pace and make sure the riders behind us were struggling to keep in-sight. I was feeling strong and we continued at this pace for a few more laps, trading blows and slowly pulling further from the racers behind us.
  With a few laps to go I started to feel the fatigue. I could definitely tell that our group was slowing down and we started to make little mistakes. I dropped my chain by the pits and had to sprint back on, a racer unclipped mid-corner slowing everyone behind him, another rider slid out too far in a corner and caused some more slowing. I managed to clear some of the riders who fell out of power early, and managed to hold tough for a little longer. With about 2 laps to go, a racer strongly passed me, lighting a fire to chase him. I managed to do well holding him in for that lap, but starting the final lap my legs were feeling leaden. Heading toward the front of the course I was passed by another racer who I often benchmark off. I was disappointed that he got around me and that I was too gassed to chase him back. I just kept churning along to keep him in-sight and managed to finish slightly behind him, ending the race in 20th place of 30 finishers (9 DNFS). Given the mixture of the field, I am pretty happy with the result and hope to continue the season moving forward. Thanks to all the folks out there supporting me, and look forward to bringing in the big results for the rest of the races.
See you next week for Cross Revolutions #1 at Silver Lake.

Starcrossed 2013

Starcrossed 2013. Boom, done.
Starcrossed is the biggest cyclocross race out here in Washington, if for nothing else than the UCI Pro race at the end of the day. In addition to this, the course is usually very well laid out, the racing runs in the afternoon/evening, and the fields tend to be full of some of the best racers in the region.
As they were running the UCI Pros in the race, the organizers split the field into a 2/3 field and the Pro/1s, making for very tough races for both groups.

 Coming off the BRUTAL race last week at Finn Hill, I was ready to do well. I had amped up my training program, and also made sure my body was ready for running at redline for an hour, that way I didn't run out of power like last race.

After getting warmed up and ready to race, I found out that I would be getting a front-line start! That should make a good difference, since there were 62 racers in my field, coupled with the single-speed racers that started in front of us (81 racers in that field!). There were going to be a TON of people on the course, so getting through the crowd early would help a lot.

The start was called and I managed a decent start, but entered the corner about 9th, so I still have work to do on my starts and make sure I get closer to the hole-shot. We were on the tails of the single-speed race almost immediately and I started cutting around the riders right away and worked along the outside of the course and into the infield of the velodrome.
After working through the infield and along the bank of the velodrome, we raced across the barriers in front of the beer garden and then out along the outside of the velodrome again before racing out into the pavement and then swinging back toward the start line.

Since we were racing with the Cat 3 field, the race was only 45 minutes instead of the hour we would usually be racing, and the time was slowly cranking by as we made the laps of the course. I continued to make headway through the singlespeeds but was slowly losing ground to other Cat 2s. The racing was still very close as we got into the final laps, and I found myself in a battle with Tyson, a racer I fought with last year before he upgraded. I hung onto his heels for the rest of the race, finally finishing in 18th place.

Not the finish I was hoping for with a front-row start, but not terrible considering the riders I was competing against. And the finishing was super close - I did finish 2 minutes back from the leader, but most of the riders were less than 45 seconds ahead. Big improvement compared to last week, and I am very happy to say that I finished in front of most of the racers I competed with every week last year. Now it is time to get ready for the rest of the season and make some forward progress.

After my race, I cleaned up and then watched the Pro ladies race while I ate dinner. The ladies race had a great group of racers, but once Gabbie Durrin got on front, she ended up pulling away from the rest of the field for the remainder of the race. She held this lead for the rest of the race and easily took the win in the end.
The Pro men offered a little more suspense, although again the field was stacked with talent. From the gun, the big names were up front - Trebon, Powers, Page, Berden, along with many other potent racers.

For the next few laps, racers were switching off the lead, pulling the others along and keeping the race super fast. As the race progressed, the lead group was formed of Powers, Trebon, Page, and Berden. They had grabbed a small advantage and run with it, and slowly stretched the lead as well. Finally, Page and Berden fell off the pace and Powers and Trebon continued to trade attacks and distance themselves from the field. Powers managed to lead the last lap and actually started to pull a small gap on Trebon as they headed into the infield. Trebon laid down the power and caught Powers' heels, but then lost it again and was unable to hang as Powers launched his final sprint and beat Trebon by multiple bike lengths. Not a bad way to start out the year, and I am sure the Rapha team is pleased to take both races here.

You can watch the BehindTheBarriers episode here. Special thanks to Woodinville Bicycles again for the great pictures from the event, and to MadFiber for the wheels, which continue to work admirably in the cross racing conditions this year.
Next Stop - Seattle CX #1

MFG #3 Marymoor Starcrossed

Here we are, nearly halfway into the 2012 cross season and back to a NW favorite - StarCrossed! This race is typically a Pro/1/2 night race under the lights but they run all the other categories later in the day as well to give it a fun and different atmosphere from the standard races. No big international headliners this year since the race doesn't give UCI points this time around, but great aggressive riding from the locals and a few visitors none the less.

My race started at 5:30, so definitely a late one, but it was nice to have some extra rest time after the morning riding the meet-the-team ride which was a little longer than I anticipated, but I think it did a decent job of opening up the legs for the night's event. This year's Marymoor course was a change from what has been run in previous years, with a large stretch of pavement in the parking paddock used on course. I really liked the layout and the speed of the course and hope that the SCCA/Starbucks GP held here later this season uses a similar layout.

The racing was definitely fast and furious from the start and like last week, we started behind the single-speed men, which meant we hit lap track early on and it helped force the break. After a poor start (my foot unclipped as we sprinted to the first corner) I managed to stay in the front group and heading into the back stretch I was in the lead. I led for the rest of the first lap and then settled behind two extremely fast riders (Hammer nutrition, whom I imagine will upgrade shortly, and a quick young rider from BC who made the trip down) and the 3 of us pulled a good gap on the rest of the racers for a few laps. I ended up getting separated from these two riders as we dived into one of the tight hairpin corners, where I got stuck in some single-speed riders and was unable to reconnect with the leaders.

At this point I was content to race for the 3rd place position and kept a consistent pace along the course. Apparently I had let up a bit too much however as on the last lap I was passed by a rider from HSP. I ended up getting around him only to have him leapfrog me again heading to the front asphalt stretch. I powered around him once more and held that lead until the final corner on the infield! I tried to take a defensive line, however I gave up too much space on the outer line and he squeezed by to hit the inner finish-line first. I still chugged along to take 4th only to have to drag-race to the line. The judges determined that this final upstart snagged the line from me due to his RFID tag crossing the line before mine. Once again a podium at MFG lost in the last seconds of the race, however a solid 5th place should move me into a great spot in the overall. There are now 3 races left in this series, so I just need to stay consistent for the remaining 2 months and I should take home the big prize before my upgrade.

Congrats to all our other team riders for showing up to this big race:

Jenny Dallas - 4th - Women's Single-speed

Melissa Desimone - 11th - Women's Single-speed

Way to go on the awesome results!

See you next week for the sand-terror at Silver Lake!