DeMong Jackson Park Report

Sunday's Jackson Park race was the first time for me to get a full (non-tag team cross effort) under my belt for the year.  It was a little nerve racking as this year I have put almost all my racing eggs in the `Cross basket and without any cross races in the middle of training to check form, I didn't really know what would be there for the first race.  With the help this year of an ABD Coach, Ebert, I was really happy with the racing legs on Sunday finishing 13th in my first 3s race.  My fitness seems solid so it should be a good season.

As for the race itself, it was wet and with enough technical parts to really bottle neck the field in some parts.  In the 2 warm up laps that I took I noted that with the wet course, big field and pinch about 6 turns in, the start would be really important.  So important that instead of warming up, I opted for a little extra warm embrocation and getting in line at the start shoot almost an hour before start time.  In looking at the course it was more technical first, before the tempo sections late in the first lap, that I figured with a stretch in the start shoot, I would be able to "warm up" a bit on the first lap.  I just didn't want to start at the back of a 100 person field.  The gamble paid off as I didn't pull anything and I never left the top 20 after starting in the 2 or 3rd row.  

For the ABD Cross newbies: One of the reasons I think the gamble paid off was because it was calculated.  I had scouted the first few turns thinking of how the start would go.  My notes were: lumpy long stretch off the line (stay relaxed in the elbows), a big wide right hand turn (keep the gas on as long as possible before the turn, there is plenty of room and others will break early), another wide-ish turn next, this time left (stay on gas and try to take middle line through first turn to set this one up).  After the left turn there was a singe barrier and then a few turns and then the big pinch: a hard right hand turn down a slippery hill.  In my mind I thought: I might not be able to win the race if I got to this point fast but I could certainly lose it if I didn't.  As it played out, I got off the line fast and so did Bryan.  I made it to the turn in the top 20 and never looked back.  I'm not saying that you should never warm up because that certainly isn't the case at all; that course and conditions lead me to believe that the most valuable part of the race was the race to the big pinching right hand down slippery hiller.  My advice would be: Do your research on what you think will be the deciding factor that day, figure out your plan and go hard after it. 

Once the initial chaos was over, I was able to settle in and ride an almost complete race.  I felt really comfortable setting up turns and tried to really open it up on the sections where you could really ride.  I felt my fitness was strong enough to max effort accelerate in the long straight-aways to make up for the fact that I'm not the best bike handler yet.  I went down once in a random slippery section and it lost me 2 positions, other than that, it was a solid ride for me.  I'm really looking forward to this season of the Chi Cross Cup and also a few other regional events. Flying the ABD colors in Cross was awesome, as we have a few more faces than normal out there racing and would welcome many more.  

A quick very BIG thank you to Farrell, Mary Lee, Jungels and the Prairie Path Cycles Family.  I am riding a really lite (so light I went with lite) Trek Cronus this year, on Zipp 303 wheels with Challenge tires.  All of these were procured through Prairie Path Cycles with my ABD Club discounts.  I do clean my bike meticulously but I'm not an expert mechanic, Rob has helped keep things shifting and braking well for all of my riding career (loose definition of "career").  There are very few other teams out there, if any, that have this much support from a local shop and club.  I really appreciate the products, the service and the folks that have helped me get racing this year. 

I will be tackling my first regional event next weekend in Madison at the USGP, so we'll see how that goes.  I will try to get more reports out this year. I promise. 

Patronize your local bike shop (PPC), 
DeMong