New England is often seen as THE place in the US to race CX even though it is not the oldest CX scene. What makes it great is a combination of unpredicatable weather, an expectation that you will race CX as a young cyclist, and some very dedicated folks.
Touching down in PVD I saw immediately that there was some remnant snow left over from earlier in the week. The temperature was in the 20's and the enxt day would call for sunny skies but never get above 32 degrees. I flew in late Wednesday and was picked up by one of the patrons of GA CX,
Lamar Mauney. The next day we waited for Shey Linder to arrive (GTC/Bikeman) and then decided to go over to the course and pre-ride. Lamar and i went over and the course was fantastic. Roger Williams park is like the Cental Park of Providence. The course included lots of small elevation changes, grass (hidden by snow), about 1/2 mile of pavement (2 sections), 1 double wooden barrier section, 2 wooden/dirt step run ups, 1 cement run up, and many tight 180 degree turns, especially through the pit/spectator area. There were many vendors, a huge grandstand, and a beer garden.The course was muddy in many places and even though it was cold, I felt really good during the warm up. We did about 5 laps and it gets dark very early in PVD so we packed it up and went back. We agreed that with the snow storm expected the next day, the pre-
ride would not really give anyone an advantage since most of the course would be covered in snow and hidden, and the temperatures would make any muddy patches icy underneath the snow.All day they were only expecting 3-6 inches, but we were warned that if the low pressure system joined with the storm, a nor'easter would develop and that would bring lots more snow and high winds.
We went over to the Biltmore hotel in PVD to get our numbers that night and were greeted with a star studded array of professionals-Dale Knapp, Mark McCormack, and Todd Wells to name a few.
I was very nervous the next day because of the field size (158 signed up). I had never lined up in a race that big before. I was also nervous because of the nice 3 inches of snow that fell overnight and the continued flakes that were falling at about 1" and hour.
We got ourselves up to the venue and met Daryl and Kim Sawyer and Todd Mills at their tent which would be the mother ship for the day. It was very cold and Lamar and I did some practice laps early and I found out how trecherous it would be by falling on a downhill section and hitting a rock with my left shin. Even with the cold temperatures I had a lot of swelling and bleeding.
Lamar raced at 10 and I at 11. I did not get to see his race but did see him cautiously come around the course. He related later that he did not want to take any risks and there were 3 crashes in the firsh minute of the race. He ended up riding well but finishing around 80th or so.
I rode over to the start area and was unsure how to line up. They had plackards on the road with a range of numbers (0-14, 15-28, etc.) and we were to line up on the road in lines of 14 riders. I was 8 rows back and was hoping I could get further up once we started. The first turn was pretty sharp and icy and there had been lots of crashes there earlier.
At the gun I was able to get a very good start and weave up through the field until the first turn where guys were stacked on top of each other. I took an outside line and passed a number of riders and was now gunning it on the course. My first lap was great. I passed a number of riders and was sure I was in the top 30. We got to the hill where I fell (near the end of the first lap) and I fell again there (one of 3 times) and hit my leg in the same place. The paves section after that was slightly uphill and it was hard to motor up the hill, but the paved sections were the places to pass people.
As I started the second lap it was like the course had changed in 5 minutes. I fell immediately on an icy downhill section and again near the pits. Overall I think I fell 6 times the whole race. Each time I fell I would lose a few spots. After awhile I was able to settle in and ease my speed to reduce falling.
On one of these falls I got up and started riding and my back wheel was hitting the frame. I was afraid it was my tire coming unglued. I gingerly rode the next few laps on a wheel shaped like an S. It kept hitting the frame and the brake slowing me down.
With 2 laps to go I was behind CX legend Dale Knapp by about 3/4 of a lap. I was hoping to hold him off and not get lapped. On the last lap I heard "Lead rider coming!" and I pulled over to see Knapp blow by me on a flat section. I tried to limit the damage and he won about 30 seconds in front of me. They let me cross the finish line even though I had been lapped.
Knapp had lapped 2/3 of the field on the first 2 laps! So at least I survived that.
All in all, I felt really comfortable in the race and felt like I never really gave all I had because of the weather. I was happy with my ride and as it turns out I came in 64th which is probably about where I should have ended up.
The weather turned nasty after my race and the rest of the events had to be cancelled for the day.
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