I had a great time this weekend at the SuperPro JMP/Oakland CX race. It might be my only cross race this season so it was nice not to be racing around in a junkyard parking lot. This was such a nice location.
This was the first bike race (ever?) in the Joaquin Miller Park. We didn’t race too much of the honest trails in the area, just a few on the back stretch. Mostly we were cutting around parking and picnic areas. The setting was superb, though, and the meadow start/finish area was really nice and pleasant. Everyone seemed to be having a great time…except for the racers on their way up the dreaded staircase.
The weather was perfect. The day started out with some haze and mist in the air and was clear and just slightly warm by mid day. Most morning riders were forced to go without eye protection because of the moisture in the air would cover lenses very quickly.
One of the craziest thing for me was having two soft crashes on course. I rarely ever crash in this kind of event. The corners were so soft in some places things got out of hand very easy. Every time I came into them I thought I could wrestle them into submission but I came out every time with my tail between my legs. They were hard corners.
The brutal staircase hurt everyone. Everyone.
I raced in the B 45+ Masters class. It turns out looking at times that we were really well grouped with an even spread of times. No sandbagging, very cool.
Peter Verdone, 11th place, Plate # 698
Lap 1: 10:07
Lap 2: 11:12
Lap 3: 11:26
Lap 4: 11:25
Lap 5: 11:00
Overall: 55:11:00
1,672 feet of climbing and descending in 10.2 miles (5 laps). Average lap time: 11:02.20
One issue that I’ve been contending with is my body and fitness. Things have been changing quite a bit in the last 2 or 3 years. My old peak heartrate of 178bpm seems like an old dream now. Looking at the data from the race it seems like I’m down to about 171bpm. My max HR in the race was 178 bpm (full pop) and I averaged 163 bpm. Way down from younger days. Ugh. Getting old.
Full results at RHES.US/LIVE/
I was riding my multi-use bike with SRAM GX drivetrain, 42t/10-42 gearing. That turned out to be about perfect for me on this course. No issues with shifting or gear range. It was very nice to not have to do a crazy front shift for some of the kicker climbs. Tires were Kenda Slant 6 Pro 1.8” front and WTB Cross Boss 35c rear on my wide Stan’s Crest rims. A great choice again. The bike was perfect and the dropper post made descending fun.
Thanks to the SuperPro team for doing such a good job!
Annie and Maggie hung out with everyone at the race. Dogs love watching people suffer!
The chart of truth. A good effort but my max HR has been falling considerably in the past few years.
Up. Down. Up. Down. Hurt. Hurt.
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Pain.
https://jeffvsphoto.smugmug.com/New-Superpro-CX-2015-Race-1-Jo/Superpro-CX-2015-Joaquin-Miller/