cross practice #2

With the first practice race of the season a few days behind me, I got to ride a different course closer to home this time that was designed by Smithers. This well put-together course featured a pair of double barrier sections (one of which preceded a steep run-up), two street sections, a good amount of loose-dirt singletrack and a tight 180* speed-scrubbing corner. Every other pass up the steep hill alternated between riding it and running up avec barriers. Either way it was painful because immediately after the big hill I had only 15ft of flat ground before the course turned upward twice more; this presented virtually no opportunity for recovery. All in all quite tough.

Fitness wise, I didn't feel much better than I did a few days ago; I was able to ride a good four full laps before the engine room started experiencing some trouble. During the ride home, I pondered whether it'd be prudent to hold back some in the first fifteen minutes of a race and then open it up hoping that I'd have enough energy to last til the end with the throttle wide open. We shall see. I've got a good month yet before the racing starts in earnest; I'll use the time til then to try a few different methods and see what works best.

As for the bike, I think I've FINALLY got it dialed in. Outside of maybe swapping out the saddle or adjusting the brakes a bit the Empella is finished. I had to replace a couple of spokes this morning in the rear wheel after stuffing my left foot into it at the last practice race so I took the opportunity to swap out the bars and seatpost as well since the tools were out. The first post was a carbon Oval Concept post that wouldn't stay at the set height -- it kept sliding down. I replaced it with simple Ritchey Pro aluminum post and this is working much better. I had been running a Deda Newton shallow round bar but the ergonomics just weren't working out. I replaced this with a deeper drop round Ritchey WCS bar which also gives me a wider top section -- this was noticeably more stable than the Deda bar going into the barriers.

I'm not too disappointed with my experience at either cross practice. Though I was getting tired rather quickly it's still early in the season. There are things I need to work on in the coming weeks -- namely, committing to a re-mount sans stutter-step and getting acclimated to the new bike -- and the cross practices are going to be a great venue. I've got plans to put my own course together right outside my front door (more on that later). The potential for multiple practice courses in and around the cities is very exciting.