Racing the Clock at Fort Steilacoom Park

 Author:  Dwaine Trummert

I consider Fort Steilacoom Park my local cyclocross course. When the new MFG Cyclocross team came to my town and put on a race at F.S.P, I found it was an easy choice to attend.

Like previous races, this year racers were faced with bone dry soil and above average temperatures. This year, I've been coming up to speed with dry soil cross racing; and how it affects tire choice. For the third race in a row, I chose to ride Maxxis Ramblers in size 40mm. I've also been coming up to speed on hydration needs and placed a full water bottle in my back pocket.

When I lined up for the cat 1/2 50+ men's start, I joined a group of less than 15 racers. The start was uneventful and we were soon streaming through the dry grass turns that punctuated the bottom section of the course. These grass section turns were flat and smooth and rewarded a smooth entry and exit.

As we passed the pits, I noticed Craig Undem was unclipping his inside foot through some corners. I considered shouting a mid race heckle. An instant later my rear wheel let loose and snapped sideways. I figured that was the Karma police reminding me to be kind.

 

My teammate Jonas navigates the bottom turn in the orchard.

A half lap later, at the top of the orchard, both tires let go. I drifted a short ways before getting the bike in line and barely avoided hitting the ground. This slide put me on edge. It also jolted my memory. Craig and I were both on the same make and model of tire. The Maxxis Ramblers were performing like the proverbial knife in a gun fight. I had no choice but to dial back my cornering aggression for the remainder of the race.

I dialed back my cornering speeds and found myself riding solo. I focused my energy on two challenges - straightening the corners as much as possible and choosing a pace that balanced power output and recovery needs.

The elevation profile at F.S.P. created a real recovery challenge. The course had a long stretch of soft sand. Most racers rode it which elevated our heart rates. Just two corners later, we were faced with the run up. These two features compounded the suffer, and my eyes crossed every lap as I remounted. After a too short off camber section, we climbed up to the top of the orchard. Choosing to push too hard in the sand or run up crushed my ability to finish the climb.

At the beginning of the second lap, I caught three riders to form a group of four. Warning bells sounded in my head. It was way too early to start scrapping for positions. I quietly backed off to trail the trio by one or two seconds. I needed to listen to my body and choose a pace I could sustain to the finish. After watching them from a distance for two laps, they demonstrated their superior fitness and began to inch away.

Patrick also offered full face water splashes. I opted for a simple water bottle hand up.

By mid race, I was suffering from the heat. My water bottle was a one-time-use solution. There was no feasible way to put the bottle back into my pocket once removed. My friend Patrick from Grit City Health came to my rescue. He saw me suffering and offered a bottle hand up. A lap later he offered another. Thanks Patrick!

On lap four, I committed to maintaining my effort to the finish and aimed for perfect pacing. I dialed in the appropriate amount of suffer on each trip up the run. I worked hard enough to prevent the leader of the elite group from lapping me. I crossed the line without drama to complete seventy minutes of racing.

I squeaked into the top ten with another ninth. My lap times showed pacing improvement. If I exclude the first lap, the other six are all within twenty seconds of each other. The final four laps were within five seconds of each other. At the end of the race, I was executing solid pacing.

I also improved my performance against my common rivals. I lost one minute to Craig compared to losing four minutes the previous week. I lost four minutes to the winner compared to losing six minutes the previous week. I survived a full seventy minutes of racing.

Fort Steilacoom Park loves to challenge me. This race was no exception. F.S.P. also makes me a stronger racer. Next weekend, we visit Sprinker Recreation Center for what will likely be another warm and dry cross event. I'm hoping that I've learned enough to improve my showing at these California style cross events.