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Andy
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Joined: 22 October 2008
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| Posted: 22 November 2009 at 19:37 | IP Logged
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Not a Crusade race, but what else are we going to talk about? So, here's my report:
Everyone said I was daft to build a cyclocross course on a swamp, but I built in all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that's where you're going to race, Lad, the sloppiest cyclocross course in all of Portland.
And now for something completely different....
I moved up from Beginner to Master C today. (Actually, I was returning, having raced Master C at Pain on the Peak, Hood River and Barlow.) The Master C's are much nicer than I had heard. Nobody threw a bike at me or anything. The guy in front of me did get hit with a team tent, but I'm pretty sure that was an accident.
Anyway, I finished first! I didn't win of course, but I was the first person to finish, so that's something. I don't think I got lapped, which was my goal for the day. I don't know yet where I actually placed. Mainly, I moved up to see how much work I had to do not to embarrass myself next year. It turns out, not quite as much as I thought. Maybe I'll set a higher goal.
I fell off the back almost before the start-specific section merged with the main course, which worried me a bit. I think there were still one or two guys behind me, but the main pack had pulled away. I decided to stick to the pace that I knew I could sustain without blowing up, and by the barriers I had caught up with the tail end and eventually managed to work my way past a few people, most of whom weren't even running to the pit. The guy who ran the last two laps did re-pass me shortly after I overtook him, but thanks to the hard-packed road section I managed to get back in front of him and put a little space between myself and him before the finish. I'm just glad I didn't ride the beginner race. I wouldn't have wanted to be one of the people who got passed by that unicyclist, although to be fair that guy was killing it.
Overall, it was really tough work but a lot of fun, and this seemed like a good bunch of guys to race with.
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Fix-it
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Joined: 23 November 2009
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| Posted: 23 November 2009 at 12:51 | IP Logged
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Ya that guy you pasted was me.
It was my first Master C's race too!!
Unfortunately I was not my First flat.
At the Barton race I flatted because I ran 35psi with regular tubes and
yesterday, who knows I hope my share of flats are behind me, Barton was
nice because of support but
still love cross even when I have to run the coarse.
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erikv
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Joined: 10 September 2004
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| Posted: 23 November 2009 at 15:19 | IP Logged
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Haha, you finished first. That was funny.
I think I might have done better with a uber-small bike I could just strap to my back and run around the course.
I'm sore today from Krugers. Ow. I wrote a race report, too.
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Andy
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| Posted: 23 November 2009 at 17:05 | IP Logged
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Fix-it wrote:
| Ya that guy you pasted was me. |
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Seriously, that was pretty impressive. Riding along beside the corn field I couldn't keep up with you, and then I think it must have been on the section in front of the house where you passed me.
I did finally get a clue and picked up my bike and ran the slight incline on the back of the course rather than churn through it. My fitness is such that I can't run very far without my heart rate going through the roof, but riding through that muck by the corn had the same effect and was slower anyway.
For those curious, but not curious enough to look it up, I finished 71 out of 82 with 14(!) DNFs. I was finishing around 75th percentile in beginner races, so I'm pretty happy with this.
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Fix-it
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| Posted: 23 November 2009 at 20:20 | IP Logged
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Thanks Andy,
I think I remeber you or at least the group of people riding around me... As
you could imagain I was getting pretty worked from running that distance in
bike shoes thru mud!!!
if there was ever was a race I would not finish in last; while doing 75% of on
foot I suppose it would be Krugers, I finished in 75th. I feel the same way
about the Masters C as you, it seems great. The bummer about Barton was
that I was In the lead for the first third of the race until my flat... Looking
forward to next year!! 
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Cross Crusade Forums : Race Reports
Topic: Kruger’s Race Report
