It was a hard weekend both mentally and physically with broken bikes, flats, jammed shifting, and nearly rolled tubulars but we managed to keep a full fleet of bikes running for the entirety of the weekend and I was able to get on Tim Johnson’s wheel both days…
Day 1
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Hurricane Ida left us with mud. Thick sloppy mud laced with grass. ‘Trenton Mud’ was a phrase we’ve all heard since last years slop-fest and we were treated to more today. I’ve been waiting for this race for a few weeks now and have really been trying to get on form to turn myself inside out here for a decent result. Mud is a bit of an enemy for me so after an early forecast of dry weather was overruled by mother nature, I was nervous to see what Ida had done to my grass track. I had an ok start and once things started to string out I tried to put some power down, but to no avail. Hoping that others were having the same difficulties I slogged on and worked out a few lines through the twisty off camber sections near the top of the course. In fact, I think was actually going faster through those sections than on the straights. Eventually the course got the better of me though. My rear derailleur clogged with grass and I snapped the hanger. People streamed by and I was hoping the slowness of the course would keep me from getting lapped but Trebon caught me a turn before the pit. Johnson entered the pit just after me. I let him exit first and I jumped on his wheel for the first time of the week. There is a reason he was lapping me though and soon I was alone again after getting schooled on a few corners. TJ must train by riding on the rails of train tracks because although he appears to be cornering with reckless abandon his wheels never seem to stray from the line. I finished up and got to trying to find a new hanger for the next days race.
Day 2
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We were awaiting our grid positions when, after only the first row or two had been placed, the remaining 50 riders rushed the grid. Your starting position was now determined by your confidence in how long you can sprint full bore into the backs of the best cyclocrossers in the country and get on the brakes before you smash into them. After some grumbling and noticing that a few people with UCI points were on the back row we were re-gridded. (It’s funny to note that those with UCI points didn’t seem to mind being where they were too much? Ultra confident that they would be able to cut through the fodder and get to the front group maybe? Or maybe they just forgot what its like to stand in place, 10 seconds at a time, while the flow of riders funnels through each of the first few technical corners.) Happy now with the grid but with a loss of one row the race started.
Course conditions had dried through the day and we had a few new sections of grass that had held up through the day’s earlier races. The remaining mud was either thick and packing into deep greasy ruts or a slow grass bog of spongecake and super glue.
After the start I found Manny Goguen’s wheel and we were actually going fast. The legs were feeling good and I had a fast wheel in front of me (Manny finished 27th the day before!). We closed on the group in front of us really fast into some technical twists and turns. When the course opened up again I took the initiative and went past the group into the barriers. I caught someone right at the barriers, his first step an unrecoverable tell on what was to happen next. A stuffed foot on the first barrier led to a front wheel into the second and a headfirst dive into the mud. I tried to sneak by on the right but our bikes tangled and I went down too. The crash really took the wind out of me and I sort of settled into a steady grind after coming tauntingly close to getting the wheels of Dave Wilcox and Colin Reuter but never quite getting there. Johnson came by me on his second to last lap and for the second time of the weekend I jumped on his wheel for a few turns and a quick lesson on efficiency. I stayed with him just long enough to have a fleeting thought of ‘this isn’t so bad’ but the next turn and little run up a hill turned into a 5 second gap and by the time I remounted my bike he was on and through the next turn 100 meters down the course. Oh well, I finished up and found my traveling companions who not only did a pro job in the pit, but saved me a few crazy zeppole pastry things for a perfect post race heart attack.
Other notes
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When in Trenton its worth checking out Malaga Restaurant. Been there twice now for their Paella and its pretty damn good. Carey went for the small steak which was bigger than his subwoofers. Really good but expect $20 a plate.
Vincent’s pizza has Zeppoles, the most crazy pastry ever. Must eat one.
When leaving Trenton 206 to 287 is a fast low key option to Rt 1 to 95.
Take the Tappan Zee bridge not the George Washington! Myerson gave us the tip for taking Rt 206 and provided this classic tweet:
“Just ripped across the Tappan Zee and heard from @johnswah that @jessedanthony is stuck on the GW. Rookie.”
Thanks to Ian Campbell at IC Photo for the images above.
