Bier en modder

“You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit…”

A reasonably appropriate saying from Ingrid & Owen’s old day care…You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit…Most people that have been racing long enough probably have some idea of what constitutes a ‘good’ or ‘ideal’ course for them.  Without getting into specifics (hills, mud, whatever), I think most of us prefer a course that challenges skills and fitness without being frustrating.

I firmly believe that the race organizers/course designers do their best to squeeze the most they can out of a particular venue.  Some are fairly constrained; Alpenrose & Rainier come to mind.  But others, like Barton and Estacata seemed to always change just enough for the better.  Similar to riders taking a lap or two to find the best lines during a race, I think it takes organizers a year or two to get feedback on making a course fit the venue.

That said, the immediate general consensus on Hillsboro seems more negative than positive.  Comments seem to range from being a little boring to having to navigate the E Coli arena.  A small percentage of responses have been of the “shut up and ride it” type, which I disagree with a little.  Surprising at it seems, it’s ok to not like a course.  It s even more appropriate to voice it (without sounding like a whiny b____) so the organizers can act on it…or not.

During warm-up, I thought that I’d get a strong chance to finish well.  The long, soft straight-aways, even the bumpy ones, felt like stuff I could power through.  I think I tend to race like a time-trialer.  The less interruption to rhythm I get during a race, the better…or so it seems.

The start got off well with a fairly quick pace around to the back section.  I’ve got people I want to finish near just ahead and I’m not struggling to hang on at all.  So far so good.

Then the turns.  Oh, the turns.  If I never see another 180° turn on mud-covered pavement or gravel again, it’ll be too soon.  Let’s be clear: I’m tall.  My bike frame is technically a 66 cm.  I’m also on the heavier side (for cyclists) at 200#.  So my center of gravity is substantially higher than most others out there.  To be blunt, tight turns on loose material turn my bowels to water.  As I worked my way though this section of the course, gaps start opening up.

On the 2nd lap, heading into the last horse stall barn, the tires give out and I’m down hard in a flash.  The front chainring opens up a 3 inch gash my right front leg.  Oh good, the liquid shit arena is just ahead.  Just what the doctor ordered.

And then there was the arena.  Pretty well frayed from crashing, I couldn’t get it together enough to ride it well.  I ended up running it the rest of the race.

The rest of the race for me played out like this; hammer the flats to catch up with or stay with a group, lose them through the turns at the stables, run through the arena, wash, lather, rinse, repeat.

Preliminary results have me near DFL but I’m certain the scorers missed me on some of the laps.  I heard from people in the pits that my number was completely covered in mud, making it unreadable.  I’m guessing it got missed.  Plus, the results look a little funny anyway.  I think some lap counts got mixed up.  I’m sure it’ll get fixed.

I need to take a day or to to take a personal inventory on what I have left for the year.  Right now, I feel totally cashed and have felt worse and worse each race since Barton.  I’m incredibly happy with this first year in the A’s but I’m also contemplating pulling the plug on the rest of the year.  More on that later.

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