Early last week, the team helped Trinity Bikes host a special edition of their weekly CX Clinic, called Cross at the Clock. For this special round, we setup new training grounds, utilizing portions of the infamous Trinity Bikes Fat Tire Criterium course.
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| Steven helping mark the CX Clinic Course |
Then, after putting the great lessons from our clinic leader, Brian Nelson, into action, we ate delicious Cibelli's pizza and Phat Matt's Beer as we all got a lesson in cyclocross from Jeremy Powers' Cross Camp video.
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| Everyone enjoying the post clinic food and movie. |
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| A quick break to stretch the legs along Hwy 22. |
We arrived at Alpenrose Dairy, for the first day of the 2014 Crusade. This of course is the incredible Cross Crusade, the largest (participants) cyclocross race in the world!! It is quite an amazing sight, to see the vast parking lot teeming with cars and team tents lining the course as far as you can see! When we arrived, we met up with another East Coaster (Billy is from MA), Jon Conway, and we quickly changed into our stretchy spandex, to take advantage of the open course and ride a lap to know what kind of conditions we would be encountering during our race.
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| Jon finishing up his pre-race meal. Check out the massive parking lot!!! |
The course had been muddy from the previous week's rains (see Patti's epic Battle at Barlow), but with temperate conditions and sunshine, the course was quickly drying up. We came across some mud, but it was a lot like peanut butter, thick and sticky. With mental notes taken, we headed back to the cars to begin our pre-race rituals. I took down a bottle of HoneyMaxx, to make sure I was hydrated and had the necessary calories and electrolytes for the upcoming effort and we took off to the hilly neighborhood streets surrounding the beautiful venue to rid our legs of the sleepiness induced from the long drive. After a nice 45 minute ride, we got last sips of hydration and headed to the start line. Due to the vast number of racers at Cross Crusade, the starting order is randomly selected based on the last number of your three digit race number. I got an epic 2nd row start, wait, I mean, 2nd from the back! Haha.
Due to being so far back for the start, I formulated a plan.....MUAH HAHAHA......when the gun went off, I followed my plan/escape route up the left side of the start chute, along the curb. This worked well, as it quickly opened and I was able to make a pretty solid move into the top 30ish right off the bat. The race course is a fantastic mix of everything possible on a Cross Bike: Fast and furious pavement, rutted corners, fast descents:
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| Fast, bumpy descent. PHOTO: NATE WYETH |
Tight trees, slippery mud, time trial style (flat and open) grass/dirt, steep run-ups:
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| Painful uphill run. PHOTO: NATALIE CONWAY |
And nasty off camber sections. Due to this combination, you have to be on it at all times, making it a completely exhilarating experience!! Thanks to some consistent riding, I was able to slowly win little battles with other riders as I moved up each lap to finish in 20th place in a field of 70 racers.
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| Good food makes for big smiles! |
With the race wrapped up and the legs cooled down, we loaded into the car for our trip home. Being cyclists that just burned off a decent chunk of calories, we made sure to stop at a local eatery to refuel. The choice of the day was Sasquatch Brewery in the Hillsdale neighborhood of Portland. They had quite the selection of delicious food and we all waddled away with a smile and belly full of food!
The drive home was nice and mellow and before we knew it, we were back in our beautiful homeland of Central Oregon, after a successful outing on the other side of the mountains!
This was the first of many (nine) long and arduous Crusades. I am definitely looking forward to slinging some mud in the name of Trinity Bikes! Keep an eye out for more great stories! Until next time.....
-Shane Johnson
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