...and it was amazing.
i can't thank everyone enough for coming out! it was a really good time.
tuffy did a great job getting all the ducks in a row for this race to happen, and the little guy came up with a pretty bad ass course, (i did get to assist with the design of the course a bit, but all the real gems we're lg's. plus he had to do all the shitwork of getting it approved and whatnot).
i knew the course was going to be tougher than anyone was expecting it to be, i heard it more than once, "what's out there? it's just gonna be flat and grassy".
nscx was very different from a "typical" mn cx race. i'm even amazed that we managed to pull out all the elements in that seemingly mundane venue; grass, pavement, gravel, sand, mud...
it was going to really test us racing, and really show us who could hang, and who would not be tough enough for something mn cxer's may not be used to.
the real beauty of the course, (and the fun in helping design it), was all the choices racers would be faced with during the race. it was a course built with think-through-the-pain types in mind.
sometimes courses tend to have "one good line"...
i think the results show we were able to really challenge all the riders to make choices all the time. where was the best recovery zone? (some say the parking lot. some say the backside decent. who knows). ride the ditch? run the ditch?
we even had the course set up to allow the racers a choice of taking the wide line around on the velodrome surface, but unfortunately it was nixed by the officials just before the start. we also we're hoping to have more barriers, but no one knew where they were... but next year look for a triple in the field.
much of the course was pre-determined, like the barrier out of the drome, it had to be there. and the ditch, there was no way to make the course long enough without it, the sports center had forbidden bikes on the soccer fields.
but still, i think we did a good job of making the race hard, (real hard), with what we had, and making a technical course but still keeping the lanes wide and allowing for lots of potential lines, and spots to pass.
the hardest challenge for me in any race is off-camber stuff.
i think it is just tough, and very under-utilized in mn. so we tossed in a bunch of that.
...and the ditch. who knew it would get quite that awesome?
we heard tons of great feedback, and we hope to bring the race back for next year.
so, tell bob you thought it was awesome, and i'd encourge you consider taking the track class, or even just coming out to ride the velodrome once or twice next season.
see you at states. i'm bringing all my friends!
(i'm skipping milaca).
4 comments:
Ah, there was so much going on that for the first time this year, I completely forgot about places for people to pass (me). Now that I think about it, that was a really well-designed element. I asked guys to pass me in the drome and also before we hit the turn from hell (because I knew I had to unclip, I was being lapped, and they didn't have to-mostly).
Maybe you guys can design some more courses next year ;-)
I keep hearing it was a great course "for the location". Definitely agree, but I'd say it was a good course, period. No caveats.
Loved that you could spectate almost the whole race by going back and forth to just two spots. I don't know if anyone else will agree, but for me spectating is just as important as racing when it comes to CX.
I agree with you Lynne, and I think the best way to spectate sometimes is being in the thick of the race itself, i.e. getting lapped.
Dis-
Why aren't you going to Milaca?
Oh! Do you like to check out the guy's butts when they go by, too? ;-)
fuck milaca.
there should be a bikethrow special report.
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