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Providence. The culmination of New England Cyclocross Holy Week. For the second year in a row, I'd raced all four Stations of the 'Cross. Midnight Ride. Gloucester. Night Weasels. And now Providence. The weekend began with the Builder's Ball on Friday night (link to photos above). The setting (the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center) was fantastic--high ceilings with glass allowing the starlight in (well, it would have if it hadn't been overcast), lots of flora as backdrop, adult beverages, and lots and lots of bikes. Saturday morning was race day (link to photos above). Coming in, we got to see the double flyover. Tall. Steep. During the preride, it was pretty clear that to ride the flyover required a less timid rider. Running it was sketchy enough. Race time. My call-up (Providence does it by name, not number--pretty cool!) put me toward the back. I got a decent start on the pavement, then we hopped the curb to grass, and the race was on (the first video below tells the story, so I'll skip it here). After the race, Betsy and I hung out to take photos, get some food, and just generally soak in the atmosphere. Watching the Master's 50+/60+ race got me to thinking--with my race age now 50 by virtue of my January birthday, I wonder how I'd do in the older field (with Categories 1-4) vs. the Cat 4/5 40+ field. An after-the-fact analysis of the lap times for my race vs. the 50+/60+ showed that the older guys turned in performances on the order of 30 to 60 seconds *faster* than the Cat 4/5 40+ field. For instance, the 50+/60+ winner turn in laps ranging from 8:45 to 9:20 compared with the 4/5 winner's 9:33 to 9:40. Similarly, the 50+/60+ 40th place rider did 9:50-10:08 compared with the 4/5 10:45-11:09. In Cat 4/5 40+, I finished 89 of 111 in the 4/5 40+ field (80% of the way back). Had I been in the Masters 50+/60+ race, I would have projected to about 113/124 (90% of the way back). Glad I didn't choose that race!  Racer getting some serious air ... in an awesome faux-flannel, faux denim, faux tatoo skinsuit The Numbers: click here for Strava
Lap 2 Flyover 1, Descent, Climb: Every lap, I picked up a rider or two on the climb [00m 38s] Lap 2 Stairs and Flyover 3: I'd usually pass someone here as well [00m 42s] End of Lap 2: You pass me, this happens, don't pass me [00m 12s] Another rider's Lap 1 video: he catches up to me right at the very end of lap 1 |
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