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Ice Weasels CX - December 2014

[My pictures of the Killer Bs 40+, Killer Bs, and Jedi Women's races; promoter's report]


What a roller coaster!

Sure, the course, but also coming up with a place to put the course.

Race day was scheduled for Saturday December 13 in Rowley MA. On Thursday December 11, registered racers started to hear the first rumblings of a problem.

Specifically, water. Lots of water. Practically Noah levels of water. Much of the Rowley course--and crucially, all of the Rowley parking--was under water courtesy a heavy dose of midweek rain.

By later in the day on Thursday, the decision came down from race organizer Colin Reuter.

If you thought changing the venue with 2 weeks notice was kinda bold last year, you're gonna love this.

Due to 5+ inches of rain this week in Rowley, MA, our race course is incredibly soggy and eroded, and most importantly, the only available parking area for 400+ cars is so wet that telling people to park there would be somewhere between "irresponsible" and "incredibly costly."

As such, the Weasel is packing its bags and moving 90 minutes south on 36 hours notice to Diamond Hill Park in Cumberland, RI, just over the border from Massachusetts for this Saturday's race.

If you make it down to the new venue, you will find tons of dry parking and surprisingly firm riding conditions. The course is actually gonna be totally sweet, we're psyched!

If you wish not to make it down to the venue, we more than understand your decision and will refund your entry fee(s), service fee included. Just respond to this email.

What did you expect? It's the Weasel!
For those of us in the Metrowest area, no big deal. In the other direction, and 15 minutes closer. Game on.

A look at the video from the 2013 Ice Weasels in Rowley showed a bleak open space on a bitingly cold day. Lots of power sections, not so many technical elements. In short, not ideal for me.

But would Diamond Hill Park be any better?

By Friday evening, a video preride of the course was available. It's hard to tell elevation from a video, but the course certainly didn't look to be as wide open. So there's that.

Saturday morning, arrive, register, pre-ride. SWEEEEET COURSE!

Start at the green dot, southwest to a gentle right-hander, then the holeshot sharp right. Over some roots, u-turn, more roots, then a sharp right into the woods. Roots, a climb, more roots, then back out into the open for a short climb. Back in the woods, out in the open, back in the woods, and then to the log that spelled the end of the trees for a while.

The log was ridable. I know, I watched guys ride it during the preride. So I tried. Twice. Both times, the result was the same. Jeff, meet ground. Ground, meet Jeff.

I was able to get the front wheel up and over, but couldn't figure out how to keep enough power to the rear wheel to follow suit. No harm, no foul, and better to learn the "dismount" lesson during the preride.

Up the hill a bit, then some fun turns heading down before the first set of barriers. Two power sections, a fun up-and-around at a tree, then onto the pumptrack.



Orchard Cross in 2013 had a pumptrack. The bumps were big, widely-spaced, regularly-spaced. Diamond Hill Park, not so much. Small, tighly-spaced, irregularly-spaced. I'd only notice while taking pictures of later races that there was a rideable--and much faster--flat track just to the left of the pumptrack.

After the pumptrack, a nice banked berm before a few turns leading to the soft off-camber left turn with a pond being the penalty for failing to negotiate it. Along the water, up across the access road, and down along the decorative pond. A few more turns, then the TALL barriers--handup central!--on the upslope.

Back across the access road, a few turns, then The Decision.

Take the JRA Cycles "Bad Idea" jump/launcher (the A-line)? Or opt for the alternate B-line to the left? As the announcer would say at the start of our race, if you don't have experience jumping a 'cross bike, now might not be the best time to learn. Once past the A-line/B-line, it was back to the start where it would all begin all over again.

We lined up for the start. I slotted in at the left edge of my row next to Dan G. The whistle blow and we were off. Like Shedd Park, I got a great start. Unlike Shedd Park, I made it last.

Just past the starting line, the road widened, which gave me a clear channel up the left side. That positioned me well for the outside line at the holeshot to the right. By then, I had gained pretty much all of the positions that I would gain, so I settled in.

The rest of lap 1 played out as I described the course above. Patrick G, who would normally have started well ahead of me but didn't register until on-site the day of the race, caught me relatively early on. Eventually, though, a spikey heart rate would force him to retire.

None of the other MacCross riders who started behind caught me on lap 1. I thought I might hold them off on lap 2, but Heath U picked me off. Early on lap 3, Dan G and Larry A did the same. And somewhere on lap 3 or 4, Tom P got me.

All in all, though, I was psyched about my result: 48 of 89 (54% of the way back). My previous best had been 65% of the way back, at Cooper River earlier this year.

And the lesson was pretty clear: (1) find a course well suited to my talents (or rather, my relative lack of deficiencies, namely, better bike handling than straight-line power); (2) choose the end of the starting row lined up with the outside of the holeshot; and (3) go all-out from the start in the emptyish space you hope will open up in front of you.


The Numbers: click here for Strava (no video from me, but here's one from a faster racer in my field and here's a Strava Playback showing my effort to hold off Larry A, Dan G, and Heath U)
  • 48 of 89 in the Beginner Men's field (53% back)
  • Distance: 10.2mi
  • Speed: avg 12.3mph, max 24.2mph
  • Elevation gain: 459'
  • Heart rate: avg 164bpm, max 171bpm
  • Cadence: avg 71rpm


DIEFFENBACH CROSS RESULTS


2014 RESULTS

Race Field Distance
(Mi)
Avg
Speed
(mph)
Max
Speed
(mph)
Elevation
(ft)
Elevation/
Mile (ft/mi)
Avg
Heart
Rate (bpm)
Max
Heart
Rate (bpm)
Cadence
(rpm)
Place Field
Size
Percent
Back
Race
Points
(lower better)
Overall
Rating
(lower better)
AVERAGE/MAX -- 7.6 12.0 24.2 337 - 44.4 161 176 70 -- -- 76% 643 --
Ice Weasels 12/13 Beginner 10.2 12.3 24.2 459 45.0 164 171 n/a 48 89 54% 614 611
NBX 12/6 Cat 4/5 6.4 11.5 22.4 128 20.0 161 167 71 90 111 81% 637 617
Sterling 11/30 Cat 4/5 45+ 5.8 9.2 19.7 243 41.9 159 169 62 31 48 65% 620 616
Shedd Park 11/16 Cat 4/5 5.9 10.4 22.4 446 75.6 151 159 n/a 76 84 90% 687 621
Plymouth 11/8 Cat 4/5 6.0 10.6 21.5 318 53.0 160 171 70 68 75 91% 682 621
Crosstoberfest 10/29 Cat 4/5 35+ 8.7 11.9 17.7 128 14.7 162 170 76 46 53 87% 669 621
Orchard Cross 10/26 Cat 4/5 50+ 7.3 10.9 19.2 361 49.5 157 168 69 27 36 75% 608 621
Canton Cup Cross 10/25 Cat 4/5 35+ 9.0 13.2 22.1 384 42.7 161 174 71 72 103 70% 642 628
Cooper River 10/12 Cat 5 7.5 11.6 24.2 100 13.3 162 176 77 41 63 65% 578 615
Whirlybird 10/11 Cat 4/5 40+ 7.4 9.5 16.3 220 29.7 165 172 75 82 96 85% 652 629
Providence 10/04 Cat 4/5 40+ 9.1 11.4 20.6 653 71.8 164 172 70 89 110 81% 672 629
Night Weasels 10/01 Cat 5 40+ 6.2 8.8 17.9 482 77.7 165 175 52 15 22 68% 633 629
Gloucester 09/27 Cat 4/5 35+ 6.5 11.6 21.3 387 59.5 165 173 76 80 108 74% 642 631
Midnight Cross 09/24 Cat 4/5 8.9 11.8 23.9 299 33.6 159 171 n/a 80 102 78% 646 633
Quad Cross 09/07 Cat 4/5 9.0 10.6 16.6 446 49.6 158 170 75 57 67 85% 660 636


2013 RESULTS

Race Field Distance
(Mi)
Avg
Speed
(mph)
Max
Speed
(mph)
Elevation
(ft)
Elevation/
Mile (ft/mi)
Avg
Heart
Rate (bpm)
Max
Heart
Rate (bpm)
Cadence
(rpm)
Place Field
Size
Percent
Back
Points
(lower better)
Overall
Rating
(lower better)
AVERAGE/MAX -- 7.9 11.2 29.5 462 - 58.3 162 180 77 -- -- 80% 655 --
Shedd Park Cross 11/17 Cat 4/5 7.5 11.7 24.4 417 55.6 163 174 83 72 91 79% 679 636
Plymouth Cross 11/09 Cat 5 7.9 12.0 23.3 374 47.3 163 175 82 23 28 82% 643 636
Orchard Cross 10/27 Cat 4/5 40+ 9.1 10.9 21.3 479 52.6 161 176 75 40 47 85% 667 641
Marty Cross 10/19 Cat 5 5.7 10.3 20.8 515 90.4 163 172 75 27 40 68% 580 642
Casco Bay 10/13 Cat 4/5 9.4 11.9 29.5 554 58.9 161 170 77 54 62 87% 660 665
Providence 10/06 Cat 4/5 35+ 7.3 11.3 19.9 436 59.7 n/a n/a 75 94 107 88% 646 646
Night Weasels 10/02 Cat 4 7.0 8.8 17.0 548 78.3 n/a n/a 72 76 92 83% 698 688
Gloucester 09/28 Cat 4/5 35+ 8.8 12.4 21.5 581 66.0 164 180 79 81 108 75% 651 688
Midnight Cross 09/25 Cat 4/5 8.6 11.8 22.6 253 29.4 162 171 72 73 101 72% 671 698


2012 RESULTS

Race Field Distance
(Mi)
Avg
Speed
(mph)
Max
Speed
(mph)
Elevation
(ft)
Elevation/
Mile (ft/mi)
Avg
Heart
Rate (bpm)
Max
Heart
Rate (bpm)
Cadence
(rpm)
Place Field
Size
Percent
Back
Points
(lower better)
Overall
Rating
(lower better)
AVERAGE/MAX -- 8.0 9.6 -- -- - -- -- -- -- -- -- 93% 711 --
Baystate CX 11/24 Cat 4 9.3 10.0 -- -- -- -- -- -- 93 97 96% 722 704
Shedd Park 11/18 Cat 4 6.7 9.2 -- -- -- -- -- -- 85 95 89% 699 699