Iron Cross

I completed my third Iron Cross weekend. This year was a bit different in that it was butt-ass cold. I also bunked out in the cabins there which considering the weather, was probably a bit of a mistake. The convenience of not having to drive 20 minutes to a hotel was definitely offset by the fact that to stay warm, not only did I have to have a good sleeping bag, but I also had to put a thermal blanket I brought over top of me and then cover the head. The blank was breathable so air would get through, but it would trap heat. I'm not sure my lungs would've done too well if I'd not done that. Past that, it was a good weekend. Starting out with the Lite race on Saturday, this proper cross race was a fun one. I'd gotten a good start and I actually stayed fairly near to the front for the first 3 laps. I popped after that and had to shift it back a gear but it was a good sign that I'm progressing. I definitely have the feel for the races now and the bike handling skills are at their top end so once the legs start kicking in I should start having some decent results. The big race was also a pretty good one for me. While I missed my goal of breaking 5 hours again, I was certainly on pace to do so. We went out of the gate like a freaking bullet and I actually made it up the hill with people that I really had no business climbing with. In all the excitement, I didn't pay as close attention to my hydration as I should've. So at about an hour and a half, I felt the first twinges of a leg cramp. DAMMIT, start drinking, start drinking, start drinking. Before long we got to the first major hike a bikes. These were really steep climbs where you were getting off the bike no matter how small your gear was. This was where I really felt the cramping first hit. I short stepped it up the first hill and road to the second hike a bike. This one wasn't as tough but I still took it easy. Once at the top, we hit the second check point. I restocked on Heed and some fig bars and a banana. I slowly worked myself back to the point where I could start pushing things. At the single track I was going fairly well and only had to pop off the bike once. I got in with a good group on the road afterwards and we were just plowing along. Again, I was climbing well but had to slow up just a bit and then we hit the long downhills. These were loose graveled roads and at the bottom of one of the descents, there was a very nasty right hander. I got thru it but wasn't shifted down to a low enough cog and spent a bit grinding the gears til I could get the bike going again. Once going, I did a slow climb up conscious of having to look out for the cramping coming back. The group of riders that I'd left on the last road climb were now back to me and passing me. Right after the top though, we hit the really long descent on another fireroad. I left all of them and caught several others and passed them as we charged on towards the 3rd check point. I wasn't so much pushing the pedaling here, but I wasn't touching the brakes. I got to the checkpoint and there were about 10 or 15 riders there. I grabbed food, water and some Hammer electolyte caplets and took off. I'd drank a good cup of heed and slammed the caplets down and hoped they'd kick in quickly. A quick time check showed I was almost 15 minutes ahead of last years time. That was going to put me very close to the 5 hour mark. One thing I've said last year was get a small enough gear and this year, I'd still missed the mark. I was thinking about using a 34x28 as my small gear but just went with the 26 since I had it. Economic reasons were part of the reason for not getting a 28 cogset so I was stuck with what I had. That necessitated a 100 yard walk on the hill where I got passed by my former pace line group. After the first leg of the hill, I was back on the bike and grinding my way up the hill. The big roller coasters last year were a problem for me. This year, I made it up them without getting off the bike. I was dragging as my legs were really on the edge of quitting on me. At the last check point, I'd caught the group that went past me on the hill. This surprised them and we were off again and racing. I was still having to be mindful of how I rode. We were back on the single track after a bit and I started storming through riders. Blasting down a hill and through the streams wound up being my downfall though. Cross the last of the streams I was going way too fast and made a bad decision and smacked a root system coming up out of the stream. Over the bars I went. I was able to do a slow landing and as I was later told, I had really good hang time with the bike overhead. After that, the muscle issues I had began to crop up again. I wound up having to soft pedal the final 45 minutes in. That was basically the difference then in me not being able to crack the 5 hour target again this year. Well, I guess there's next year. Overall though, it was a lot of fun, we got a cool tshirt and of course the socks for finishing as well as the pint glass and a good burrito after the race. The best thing was that aside from the cramping issues, I came out of it feeling really good. Onwards and upwards for the rest of the season.