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 fBIKE Direct at Casco Bay I was hoping to use the Casco Bay Cyclocross race to snap out of my 7/10 of the way back in the pack "funk." Results aren't posted yet, but I don't think that I succeeded. 3 days later, results finally posted to cross-results.com. I finished 53rd of 62, or 85/100 back from the start in the 4/5 field. About average for me. Had I raced in the 45+ field, my time would have placed me 26th of 32, or 81/100 back. My bike handling's good enough. My starts haven't been as strong as they could have been, but a bit more aggression could take care of that. Clearly, though, where I've been suffering is, well, suffering. Or more accurately, not suffering enough. The Casco Bay start is a long, wide, slightly uphill paved section of Eastern Promenade in Portland, Maine's East End. I took advantage of the width and passed more riders than passed me. We rounded the rotary at the north end, headed back on the sidewalk, then dived left onto singletrack. At that point, the inevitable traffic jam formed, giving a bit of time to recover. As the field stretched out, it was time to put Plan Suffering into play. I don't think that I'm a particularly good sufferer. Which means that I'll likely be better served with a better motor. That means trainer intervals the rest of this season, then better overall prep next year. The course was a blast, with two run-ups and a set of barriers to get us off our bikes. Several off-camber sections looked rougher than they were in the dry conditions. I spent the last 3 laps trying to catch a rider 100 yards ahead and holding off 2 riders an equal distance back. Failure on the former front, success on the latter. The numbers (Strava)
 Course map  Lap 1 video |
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