Weekend Mayhem CX

Sunday Oct 17th was the Remington Development’s Cross for Kids CX race put on by our friends of Midweek Mayhem. To all you folks who were first time CX racers, this is what you can expect of a Keith Bayly course - lots of tight cornering, sketchy descents, forced dismounts, bits of sand, and technical climbs. Do not expect anything less. In my opinion, COP is definitely the best venue we have for CX racing with so many different things to do with a course. I also believe, the night before the race when temperatures were dipping to zero, Keith must have went to the section after the barriers and poured a bunch of water there to create a nice little ice patch that would force riders to think about which line to take, or be prepared to be forced ‘off’ your bike…something he strives for in any course design. It was placed perfectly in a spot that didn’t see sun for the entire day, affected almost every racer and became the viewing spot of choice for many spectators.

Huge props already went out to Thomas for his exciting sprint finish which gave him a 3rd place victory. I’m glad I got to see the start of the Sport race, because it definitely had the largest field of 50 guys. Thomas made the best move by being in the front, and staying in the front, the entire time. He even helped drag around the racer who got 2nd. Awesome job to all the Speed Theory racers!

In the Women’s field, numbers were down slightly from previous races, which would definitely have something to do with the lack of Edmonton racers as a result of the Saturday race being cancelled. The start of the race was fast, and became furious in a hurry, when there was a slight pile up at the icy off camber section that took many down throughout the day. Despite several warnings from many about which line to take, I realized too quickly that I took the wrong line when I went down, and had another racer crash into me. 2 racers, 2 bikes all tangled up, causing everyone else to put a foot down and try to get around us. I was last to get up, only to see my shifter twisted sideways, and my bike unable to roll with a messed up derailleur and chain stuck somewhere in the drivetrain. Bike over my shoulder, I started making my way in reverse of the course direction to go DNF. Andrew T with Bicisport was standing by the barriers, and he offered his help, even though my decision to DNF was already made. After messing around with it for what seemed like several minutes, despite my DNF requests, he had me back out there. Thanks again Andrew! I now had to redo the barriers, and the section that got me in this mess. At this point, I was certain I would get lapped, but somehow, I dug deep and started catching people. It caused some excitement amongst the spectators, and I had someone tell me after the race I was like Ms Pac Man out on the course. While I felt disheartened about how things unfolded, I am so glad I got to experience what it’s like to be that far behind, and see what I was capable of. Of all the races we have done so far, this was by far my favorite course.

This weekend Provincials are in Devon on Saturday, and PRW Super Prestige is at Gold Bar Park in Edmonton on Sunday. Tech Guides are available here:

Devon Provincials Tech guide

PRW Super Prestige Tech Guide