HPCX 2016
My feelings about HPCX go back and forth. Maybe it seemed to have more climbing than I remembered because most of my CX races this year have been relatively flat. The start is always a grinding pavement climb. The barriers always seem extra high. And now they've added a double sand pit.
This year Jalepeno Cycling announced that they would be stepping up and matching our Master's Women payout to the Men's for both days. Wow. Thank you thank you thank you! This is incredible and I hope it's a sign of what could come.
Saturday (Day 1) was chilly. It was the first day I lathered on embro and pulled out my thicker gloves. The course was similar to previous Day 1 races. I somehow got turned around and was going the wrong way until I got to the barriers. Doh. One of the corners was full of acorns and going into it too fast, I nearly ate it. I was happy to see the volunteers raking the area on my 2nd lap.
I lined up with my usual crowd of Master's women. I had a good start up the road, getting into 2nd place going onto the grass. I knew things could get messy going up the steps, I picked my line and pushed up. I knew third place was on my wheel as I pushed to keep on the leader's wheel. We were together through our 2nd lap when I heard something behind me by the barriers. Third place went down and myself and the leader got a bit of a gap.
I pushed hard to hold on. The leader powered through the straight-aways and I dug deep to keep up. I tried to recover when I could. I could see 3rd place creeping up and started to panic that she may catch us. On our last lap we were lapping others. I knew that these riders could potentially cause the leader to get ahead as I tried to get around them. Coming into the last stretch, I lost contact with the leader and she rode away. I finished a strong 2nd.
Sunday (Day 2) was a new day - the weather was much warmer and the course was mostly in reverse from Day 1. And there was sand. I felt the previous days effort and my hamstrings were tight. Contrary to what the rumors were, there was still a substantial amount of climbing. Ugh.
I tried to get a warm up in on my trainer but my legs just weren't there. I made my way over to the start, wondering how the race would go based on how I felt. At the start I charged up the climb and I felt it. I was able to move into 2nd for the first lap. I had some reservations about the sand and traffic around me. I had a clear path just about every time, riding the one direction and "running" the other.
Going into the 2nd lap, I was fading. Everything hurt and I felt like I was going nowhere. The course was relentless with the climbing, grinding and little recovery. I couldn't hold my position and 3rd place passed me on the paved climb like I was standing still. She rode away and I had nothing in me to fight. I could see that I had enough of a gap on 4th place to finish the race in my spot.
Not my best race but I'll take it. It was probably the hardest I've worked over two days of racing. And now I know how it feels (and how long it takes to recover). I stayed for the remainder of the day - and even got to pit for Laura Van Gilder, which was an incredible experience.
This year Jalepeno Cycling announced that they would be stepping up and matching our Master's Women payout to the Men's for both days. Wow. Thank you thank you thank you! This is incredible and I hope it's a sign of what could come.
Saturday (Day 1) was chilly. It was the first day I lathered on embro and pulled out my thicker gloves. The course was similar to previous Day 1 races. I somehow got turned around and was going the wrong way until I got to the barriers. Doh. One of the corners was full of acorns and going into it too fast, I nearly ate it. I was happy to see the volunteers raking the area on my 2nd lap.
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| photo by A. Reimann |
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| Charging up the start - photo by B. Tufford |
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| photo by A. Reimann |
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| photo by B. Tufford |
I pushed hard to hold on. The leader powered through the straight-aways and I dug deep to keep up. I tried to recover when I could. I could see 3rd place creeping up and started to panic that she may catch us. On our last lap we were lapping others. I knew that these riders could potentially cause the leader to get ahead as I tried to get around them. Coming into the last stretch, I lost contact with the leader and she rode away. I finished a strong 2nd.
Sunday (Day 2) was a new day - the weather was much warmer and the course was mostly in reverse from Day 1. And there was sand. I felt the previous days effort and my hamstrings were tight. Contrary to what the rumors were, there was still a substantial amount of climbing. Ugh.
I tried to get a warm up in on my trainer but my legs just weren't there. I made my way over to the start, wondering how the race would go based on how I felt. At the start I charged up the climb and I felt it. I was able to move into 2nd for the first lap. I had some reservations about the sand and traffic around me. I had a clear path just about every time, riding the one direction and "running" the other.
Going into the 2nd lap, I was fading. Everything hurt and I felt like I was going nowhere. The course was relentless with the climbing, grinding and little recovery. I couldn't hold my position and 3rd place passed me on the paved climb like I was standing still. She rode away and I had nothing in me to fight. I could see that I had enough of a gap on 4th place to finish the race in my spot.
Not my best race but I'll take it. It was probably the hardest I've worked over two days of racing. And now I know how it feels (and how long it takes to recover). I stayed for the remainder of the day - and even got to pit for Laura Van Gilder, which was an incredible experience.
I will wrap up this post with the Men's Cat 4/5. Yes, we were all there once but it's always fun to watch.
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