a midway bikelog

6th place for the Singlespeed category… out of a field of … 6

I’m in Oregon with my girls visiting my dad and stepmom for a week, and as it turns out, my dad’s cario rehab guy is also a cyclist. He (Chris) generously lined up a bike for me to ride so i could get in on some real Oregon cyclocross action. It’s Wintercross, 3rd race in the Psychocross Series on Dec. 9, and their second-to-last race of the year. This at a time when the high temp in Minneapolis is 11F, and there’s a foot of snow on the ground.

The borrowed bike was a singlespeed Surly Karate Monkey from Chris’ teammate Mike. It’s a nice bike, a light CX-style setup with flat/riser bars and a steering damper. The gearing was in the neighborhood of 32/18, though i didn’t count it myself. A little low for the course perhaps, but it would have been fine if the lungs and legs were in better form. I still managed to drop the chain a couple of times, i never did figure out why it kept loosening up with 2 chain tensioners.

The course was a long lap, 1.5 miles, winding through a summer camp. We went through a triple barrier, then across the horse pasture and down a sharp drop through a sand pit and across a creek within the first 1/4 lap. The creek soaked me from the knees down every time, and was followed by a good long stretch of singletrack. There was a nice log barrier about 2′ off the ground in there, and a double barrier past the conestoga wagon-styled bunkhouses into the back loop. There was a stair runup in there somewhere, and a couple of short but slippery runups that were rideable with the right momentum. A good mix of bike handling and fitness skills, a really well-done course.

The race was the Bs and Singlespeeds, 12 racers in all, evenly split, 45 minutes. I started right in the mix, and that lasted about 1/2 lap before i had the first chain drop and fell to last place. I was spinning like mad to stay with the pack on straights, and held my own through the technical parts, but didn’t have the fitness to maintain. I passed a geared rider after losing 2 places on the chain drop, but he dropped out later, leaving me to DFL. I was pretty much on my own after that, but kept on keepin’ on, and didn’t get lapped. 5 laps in all over the 45 minutes.

It was a good time, and even though it was 35F, it was a damp and cold 35. My feet were numb after a couple of laps. I’d finish a lap with feet just starting to feel something before the next dunking. Thanks to my dad and stepmom Sandy for race support, which mainly consisted of keeping the girls entertained for a couple of hours (no small feat) and warm clothes afterwards, and to Chris and Mike for the loaner bike.

Here’s the link to the full results:
http://app.obra.org/results/event/9656