Like there were 135 dudes in the single speed race. And all the age group non championship races maybe could be held somewhere else. Dunno.
How much can you offset a course? We have some races where we move tape over three feet to fresh grass. What is the feasibility and how much can you plan for that on a Nats course?
Every location is different, of course, but is this something race organizers should be building into their plans? Is this a characteristic that separates a good race planner from a great one?
Timarchy, I’ll be really curious to see how the drops and run-ups fare after a week of racing at Ft. Steilacoom in Lakewood next year. There seemed to be a lot of erosion after even one day.
As for the stairs, I think there is an obsession on those features because they are the main cue that this is not some boring road race, which may pique new viewer curiosity. And you’re always hoping for those acrobatic, stair hopping money shots.
Seriously. It’s going to be GANRLY. Which is rad for the pros. I don’t want to race on a course that actually challenges the pros.
What about running the schedule in reverse? Run the elite races the first weekend, then all the others during the week after.
Christmas Cross St George, Utah
Course was mostly flat with a long bike path for the first lap, weaving in and out of baseball diamonds, some sand/gravel in the baseball diamonds (w/a u-turn in it that was interesting), a short singletrack section with a choose-your-own-adventure drop in, and some grass that could only be described as velcro.
SS: got the holeshot, proceeded to open up a gap. On the first entrance into some off-camber grass, there was a sidewalk that you needed to be weary of not casing and i didn’t have that line dialed yet. I lost some time through the proceeding section of turns and when i exited the singletrack, the former mtb-pro guy from the other races was on my wheel. I kept it going for the next lap and on lap two, before the first set of barriers, he passed me. I latched on and decided I was just going to stick to his wheel for the remainder of the race. He would gain a few seconds in the singletrack, but I would make it up in the baseball fields. We were doing about 5 min laps, and I had wanted to attack going into 2 to go, but they didn’t announce laps. When we got out of the u-turn in the sand, I hit it, passed him before the barriers, and kept it hard. Came into 1-lap to go with a 5-7 sec advantage and took the first turn wayyyyyyyy too aggressively and burped my front tire. Luckily, we had lapped everyone else and I ran the final 1 mile lap into 2nd, which netted me 2nd in the ss series.
Elite As: we had a good amount of guys in this race, for once. Sat 2nd wheel after the long preliminary path section. 1st started gapping me and the guy behind me attacked to bridge. I sat behind him for a good while and on lap 3, after the first set of barriers (that were in the same loose baseball sand), I put down by bike too hard and it jumped while I went to remount and ate it. The guy in 1st pinched his tire on that sidewalk gap on the same lap, so I was still in 3rd while I got passed while on my back. Got up and navigated the Bs that had passed me. Recovered and then just tried to manage the gap to 2nd. Was closing in on 5sec with 3 to go when BAM, I ran straight into a stake and it stopped me dead in my tracks. OTB straight to the face/neck/shoulder. Got right back up and put it in overdrive to not get passed by anyone behind me. Barely held on for 3rd at the end. Ended up tied for 2nd in the A series.
My neck is still sore.
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I’m loving the race recaps.
Rabbi, is it just me, or do you pretty much always burp a tire at every race?
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It’s been a rough year with me and tires. I got all new tires this season and have had nothing but problems with the new donnelly-branded tubeless tires. Won’t seat with a floor pump. Burp really easily. Tubular flat probably wouldn’t have been avoided because it was a sharp rock, but add that to the list. I had almost no problems with the clement-branded ones, though, save for once or twice when I was running admittedly too-low of pressure. I didn’t think that they switched manufacturers, but I could be wrong.
I like it. Though we are conditioned to see the big game come at the end. Might see a drop off in participation.
You might want to think about this correlation.
Holler at them about it, because these days that shit don’t fly.
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Yeah, I’m not fucking with tubeless for cross.
Mud 2s give me 90% of it, last a long time, and are cheap and supple. If Michelin would finally get with the times and adjust the knob placement to work better on wide rims they would be the ideal tire. No rotting sidewalls, peeling tread, knobs that snap off, or any of that other bullshit.
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I raced tubeless this year and it was pretty great. No issues. Maybe I’m running a few pounds more pressure than tubulars but it’s way better than clinchers
I’m tubeless ready, but haven’t taken the next step. I hear so many stories about burping, but not so many about flatting on tubes. But you can save a race if you burp, whereas if you flat on a tube you’re done. I run scary low pressure in my tubes, so I’m hesitant to add even 5 psi to go tubeless.
That said, I’ll probably make the jump next season.
I sent them an email about it. sup’s tires have been fine, but when she’s racing, she’s jra.
I’m curious about this and I must be missing something. I see multiple stories of burped tire=have to run to the pits, which is the exact same thing you’d have to do with a tubed tire. No?
Are you saying that a burp lets out so small an amount of air and the tire re-seats itself so you keep riding, just with less pressure than before?
If you let all the air out it’s just called a flat.
When i say burp, I mean full burp to the point it’s unrideable.
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Donnelly is sending me replacement tires. Woo! Which means I’ll wait till June to put them on. Haha.
Seems that’s the idea–more rideable than a total flat so you can ease into the pits for a wheel change, or even just a few strokes of the pump cuz re-seal.
Not that I’m much of a tubeless advocate. I guess my main tubeless gripe is about having it on bikes like my fattie that only get ridden once or twice a month. Keeping them properly maintained and booger free on that schedule is beyond my capacity. That doesn’t count at all for CX but I’ll wait until my current tubies die before thinking much about that. Really I just don’t want to go through the learning curve.
Did this for a buddy a few weeks ago. Made me feel pro working the pit for him. Granted, he was fighting for mid pack after riding half a lap with hardly any air in the front.
What rims are you on? Are they undersized maybe?