Rochester CX and quick tale for mtb Provincials

[velodan]

Let’s start in order with provincials at Woodnewton. Wasn’t a goal event for me and already had the points overall locked up so just had to show up. New course design was good, figured 8 style with 2 double track climbs and fast single track, pre ride would have definitely helped. I found the years racing master it wasn’t required but when you start with elite/u19 and sometimes u17 knowing the course is a key aspect.
The start was hard, fast and blind. I got stuck behind Greg and the leading groups had 20sec after the first sections of single track. Got my 1/2 through lap 1 just before the drop and biggest climb. Bringing back the riders infront was going to take a huge effort, so i was just riding solo for lap 2. I did catch 2 u19s racing for 3rd/4th on lap 3, but couldn’t get by them. They were racing each and I could really only benefit on power sections. They sprinted for 3rd after 4 laps and I continued on for my 5th and final lap. Uneventful, but I was starting to see 2 u23s ahead of me so that gave a little hope and burst of energy…which was used up quickly ha. One of them took a nasty crash on that last 1/2 lap and I passed him just before the finish. Poor kid was just finished, but sorry im taking that position!! Finish 5th overall, 4th elite. However only 5 elites finished. We all go spanked my Tyler Clark and atleast Pete Glassford only beat me by 2min not 4+ this time.
Mtb season done, about time, was starting to get burnt out. Need a change of pace, change style. Right into CX as its mid September already. Got out on a few cx training rides last week and headed to Rochester USA for the first cross race of the year.

Rochester 2026. Registered for master 40+, 10:30am start, so if i leave at 5:30am straight drive Ill get there with an hour to spare and maybe walk the course a bit. Only doing day 1 this year and saving $$$ by no hotels/meals out. Pre reg list looking good for me, not seeing anyone who can be a real threat. Timmerman’s not there and Ryan Popple is doing elite at 4pm. Funny story, I get there and park then head to the loo and sign in. Go to take my bike off the rack and its surrounded by bees, we parked right over a nest in the ground. Hop in the car…“so, we’re moving”!
I did get to ride 25% of the course before the ladies start, same as last year but a few small changes and a bit slick in spots. Got a front row call up, thats right! Not a great start, need to work on that. Still hung onto 4th for most of lap 1, with 3 American boys hogging the lead. Fighting each other for corners and riding unnecessary aggressive. One guy cut me off in a technical corner the crowed cheering for him like a local hero. My thought was this..“im going to beat you by 5min today!” I waiting until the start/finish stretch to go. Noticing these guy’s didn’t have much on the power open sections. I got about 15sec 1/2 through lap 2. Continued to ride as fast as I could and heard the bell lap after lap 3, lol really..its going to be a 40min race. Lead over a minute now I kept on the gas still learning the course. There were definitely sections I could have been better if I had practice. Double trouble section for sure, I messed that up every lap I think. Another Ontario boy from Ottawa took 2nd which was cool. First race done and felt good coming right off mtb, but a few things need work.
I didnt race in my national jersey (didn’t want to pin it up) but had it so worn it on the podium! With the Rochester kilt I won lol. Looking at elite lap times during the afternoon race I was about 10-15 sec off the pace for a top 20! Some of that might be due to track conditions, but realistically I would have got smacked. Ryan Popple (44yrs) was 18th both days close to 45sec ahead of Lucas Goertz! Dang!

[bike_daniells]

Things definitely got faster as the day went on and the ground firmed up, and watching the elite race, you realize how much more drafting helps at higher speeds, assuming no one messes up in the corners in front of you.

We arrived Friday and got to pre-ride 2.5 laps before it was dark. My line choices are now being dictated to me by a 13-year-old, with lots of phrases like, “Just ride the rut, it’s easy”. The kid told me I couldn’t race right before or during his race. Thankfully, the race had lots of options so I ended up in the early cat 4/5 race. I raced this the last couple of years, and unfit me had been either lapped or the last rider not to be lapped. I figured this year I should be nearer the front, but after crashing Tuesday and minor sickness, I wasn’t so confident.

A second-row start put me mid-pack into the first corner, where wet grass led to a large pile-up and heavy braking. I picked my way through, but I was several bike lengths behind where I’d liked to be. Being a dumb ass, I dive-bombed the next 180, but it was far too wet, and I lost the rear a couple of times. I bided my time through the technical sections and waited for the second half of the lap, where it was easier to pass and not get caught up in crashes. By the end of lap 1 I was in a small group that was in 4-8. At that point, one other and I got away. I made the error of sitting on his wheel on the straights and not applying pressure in the corners. While I held the wheel, I made a couple of mistakes in the last lap that opened the gap that I couldn’t close, ending up 5th.

I got Devin food because he’s 13. Then went in the pits for Dan, which was uneventful. Then it was Devin’s turn. After last year, when he flatted, he banished me to the pits in his race. He is racing under faction this year, so he grabbed one of my jerseys. Being 13, he picked one with a little road rash on the sleeves. He got the call-up for a front-row start, but got away poorly. He got pinched onto the crash barriers and tore open the road rash on the sleeve and had to brake pretty hard. No real damage done, thankfully. His field was smaller this year and he was lacking racers around him, they were either way down the course or a long way behind, a dropped chain on the last lap resulted in him missing the cut off for the last lap. The race set the reality for me he has grown a ton in the last 6 weeks and a new bike is required, so we quickly set about adjusting it for day 2.

We stuck around for the elite race, where I was in the pits for Jayden McMullen, who races the local Nordic Cats series. He is Canada’s current Elite Crit Champ and was national junior champ for multiple disciplines. Watching the top guys go through from the pits is pretty cool, especially when we get to see a lot of local talent. Sagan Goertz was 16th and Lucas 24th.

I was pretty toast on day 2. My start was possibly my worst race start ever; I pretty much shot to the back of the field by corner 2. Half of the course is backwards, with the tech sections generally easier to ride. It didn’t take long to realize that I had to jump a lot of wheels before we hit the more technical section. I had the half-lap prologue to make that happen. I managed to pass probably 10 racers and got myself 15th. At that point, I could see a larger group working together. I was closing the gap; I had a few opportunities to close it fully, but I didn’t want to attach myself to the back before the more technical sections, figuring the odds were that one of them would get it wrong and then the gaps would open again, not sure if I had a second jump in me. I managed to time it so I jumped from wheel to wheel on the second half of lap 3. This let me slow down the first run on lap 4, remount first, and put in the last dig to keep the chasers away. I ended the day 6th, pretty good improvement on last year and a decent recovery. I’ll have to race a faster one next year.

Devin got a much better start Sunday but was once again stuck in no man’s land. Thankfully, he picked up “lucky” acorn and this time he only crashed on his own doing . He managed to overcook the one really tricky corner, removing more material from the same jersey. It won’t be long until he is fined for a sleeveless jersey . He ended up 7 out of 13 and spent the rest of the day convincing me what bike I should buy him.

We watched the start of the Elite race from the sidelines. Devin remarked that the photographer was brave for sitting on the ground in the first corner. Ten seconds later, a pileup sent bikes crashing into the photographer. Looked like Sagan was caught up behind the chaos and a hard road back to the pack.