Tokeneke Classic Cat 4/5 RR - 8-11-08
22 miles, 2000 feet of climbing.
Finished 46/74 starters, 9:46 down.
Going into this race I knew it would be tough, but planned to hang on to the pack as long as I could and have some fun out there. Illness, travel, and the unpredictable schedule of being a new parent kept me off my bike much more than I had hoped, and a quick glance at the training log the night before showed less than 9 hours on the bike in the entire month leading up to the race. With my fitness most generously described as “off season” (though more realistically as “sloth-like”) I knew this one was going to hurt, but was committed to giving it a shot.
As others have described, the course started with gently rolling downhills, which were uneventful but were useful in helping me identify which wheels were worth following and which were far too sketchy to get near at all (and in the 4/5 race, there were many of those). As we crossed the first dam and made a right turn into the long climb on the back half of the course, the first of several crashes took out about five riders and quickly helped the splintering field fall apart completely. As we hit the steeper parts of the climb I found myself falling off the back with a lot of other riders. Over the top of that section I gave it all I had to catch back on, but managed to time it just right so that I caught the field at the bottom of the next climbing section with nothing in the tank. Knowing the course better would definitely have helped here. Off the back I went again. Unable to organize a decent chase group, I feel like I jumped from group to group behind the pack until I found three other riders that I could work with. We weren’t moving as quickly as I would have liked on the flats, but leaving them behind was also out of the question. Somewhere along the way we dropped one rider, and we flew together down the final descent before the big finish climb (which those of us in the 4/5 race only went up once). I felt much better on the final climb than on earlier climbs – it felt less steep that earlier climbs, but it may have just been that I was now riding my own pace. My chasing companions seemed unmotivated at this point, so I left them behind at the bottom of the climb, hoping not to see them come by me half way up, and I continued on. I wasn’t able to catch the group ahead, but I was happy to put almost a minute on the other two over the 2 mile climb, which let me finish on a high note.
Lessons learned: – I should have spent more time learning the course – a pre-ride would have been a huge help, but didn’t fit my schedule – I definitely put in my maximum efforts at the wrong times, partly due to frustration at not being able to organize a decent chase group – If it was fun this time, it could only be better if I were in shape
I wasn’t able to stick around to support the other NEBC riders out on the course in the other races, but hope to see some of you again soon. My wife, son and I hit Mrs. Murphy’s Donuts in Southwick on the way home for some great sandwiches, donuts (of course), and much-needed coffee. (Why don’t I ever read about food in NEBC race reports? Isn’t the post-race meal as much of a highlight for everyone else as it is for me?). With the race as motivation, training is back on track this week, and I’m looking forward to trying out cyclocross for the first time this fall