CrankWorx Colorado Cross Country Race Report

Grueling, pain cave, survival mode, suffer fest. These are some of the words and phrases the rolled through my head during the Crankworx Colorado Cross Country Race. I ended up with 32 place out of the 41 man pro field. Result are here. While that does not seem like a stellar finish, I am pretty pleased with it. Based on time I would of finished second in my age group in the expert class, so I think upgrading to pro was the right decision.

The race started with the 41 of us crammed together on dirt/two track road. From the beginning the RFG's already had a gap on the rest of us as we started the initial 5 mile 1000+ ft elevation climb. I felt good on the climb as I got warmed up, made a move on an open dirt road section which left me in the upper mid pack of the field. However, the climb would just not stop. This was the first time I have ever reached for the granny gear in a race. I am glad I had it.

As we finally crested the climb is was a crazy steep descent with grades exceeding -21%! I kept loosing a few positions on the down hills. I did not properly tighten on my new bar grips, and they were moving all over the place. On top of that I just never really getting my tires to hook up, the descents were pretty treacherous for me. (more aggressive tires from here on out!)

I knew after the first climb I knew there were two more significant climbs, each topping 500ft of climbing. In my head I would roll right over them. But in reality they were very rocky, technical climbs that were relentless.

Around mile 16 of the 24 mile race I was in survival mode. Just keep pedaling, can't stop pedaling was my mantra. I had a minor fall, on one of the rare flat sections which really through off my mental game. I hopped back on my bike as fast as I could to try and forget about it. Then came the river crossing. I did not make it a cross. But I did get a nice bath from the neck down!

The final descent was epic for me. I had to give up at least three positions, as my grip was literally coming of the handlebar!

I did not have huge expectations for my self at this race. I have been off the bike quite a bit the last month due to nagging knee pain, and this last week was the first week I could ride with no pain. So I did my regular training with no rest for the race, chalking it up as a training race. But I got so much more than a training race.