Tate's Report from the Boise Race

I am going to preface this post with an editorial comment.  When I write about my own experience in a race or event, my goal is to share some information that may be helpful to other people who are considering doing the event in the future and to comment from the perspective of a regular guy on a bike.  In contrast, Tate's race reports tell the story from a substantially different perspective, that of a very talented rider slugging it out against top tier competitors.  I love to read them.    Dave

 

This last Saturday I went to Boise to race the last few races of the SICX race series. Unfortunately when woke up on Saturday morning I was feeling extremely sick, despite my stomach flu the desire to race made me throw caution and my health out the window. After the long 3.5 hour drive I arrived at Lucky Peak State Park just outside Boise. The course was extremely technical and compact there was only one section of pavement and it was about 0.2 miles long which was just long enough to open a gap or put the hurt on some of the other racers. Other than that it was a very European course with several switchbacks on an off camber decent (which proved to be too much for almost everyone in my race). 

 

When the race started there was a lot for bumping and shoving for the hole shot, (one kid tried to take my line and ended up getting wrapped up in my handlebars which unfortunately for him lead to him getting run over by the peloton) because most of us knew that if you weren't at the front of the race by the time we hit the off camber section your race was over. I came out of the first corner in 3rd place and waited until the off camber section to make my move. The grass was slick and if you weren't feeling confident you were going to crash hard. On the first decent 5 guys from my race slid out which gave me a little bit of a gap. Realizing this I kept the pressure on and continued to pound it. On the first lap I decided to ride the long sandpit instead of dismounting and running half of it. This was a great choice because I was the only one to do so. By the end of the first lap I had a small gap of about 15 seconds, but a chase group of 3 strong riders were getting organized to chase me down. My wife Allsion was running the pit for me and giving me my time gap on the chasers each time I passed her. Fortunately I was able to ride smart and not make any major mistakes. After riding the sandpit a few times I realized that it actually faster to run it than it was to ride it due to how much energy was required to ride it. With 2 laps to go my stomach flu caught up to me and my adrenaline started to wear off. Right before the last lap I had to get off my bike and throw-up, it was at that moment that I seriously considered throwing in the towel. But then I realized that all I had to do was suffer for about 8 more minutes and it would all be over. As I remounted I cursed myself for even considering dropping out of a race with this much of a lead. In the end I was able to suffer through my last lap and come home with another victory that I doubt I'll ever forget.

 

 Overall it was a fun race, not my favorite course but a good time regardless. The race was well supported and I even ran into a few guys from Victor. After I finished racing I decided that I had better not race the following day because I only got sicker overnight.

 

What I learned:

1. Cyclocross is a contact sport, and one must always be on the offensive side of the blow otherwise you will find yourself in the dirt.
2. Although you can ride a section, it doesn't mean that it's the fastest way to get through it i.e. the 200 ft section of sand.

3. Pavement is for drop no matter what

4. Tire pressure is critical to speed, and surviving a Euro off camber decent.

5. There ain't no shame in needing to stop and puke during a race haha