Kodiak Rider: Wheeling CX 2024

Welcome to Wheeling. The annual "freeze your butt off or get really muddy or both race".

Heritage Park is the regular venue for the Wheeling race and this year we avoided both the deep freeze and the mud. It was in the high 40's for the start of the 55+ race which last week I raced with nothing but a jersey and bibs. For this race I added a windproof baselayer as the wind was a bit sharp. In fact, I bought this baselayer specifically because of this race.

TL:DR 55+ finished 10th/39; SingleSpeed finished 24th/41

The course here is more or less the same each year but to jazz it up a little they created a couple A-B lines. The A line is usually shorter but more challenging and the B line is longer but easier.

In my 2 pre-ride laps I tried them all out and settled on the A line for both.

The first A-B section had 2 off camber lines. The A line had a couple railroad ties most people ran but had a direct exit. The B line kept your speed up until the end where there were 2 turns where all speed was scrubbed and where some had to dismount.

On the first lap Chris Brown entered the section after me and took the B line. Below (left) he dismounted and still has another turn while I've already exited the feature.

The second A-B feature was a no-brainer. The A line was much shorter and had a little ramp with a drop at the top of a rise. The B line was simple but long. You could get air on the ramp if you dared but I would just push the bars down as I went over to keep it smooth.

(This looks flat but is probably a 2-3 meter drop to the bottom of the hill)

Pre-Race staging has me in the front row but a Day Of registration by the eventual winner pushed me back into row 2. I still need to improve my immediate starts but after 10 seconds I was moving up and slotted into a good top 10 position before the tight turns. George and Bob along with Mark also were racing with me. And Tommy Will was in the 45+ until the sole of his shoe fell off (ask him for the pic). Bob's son John raced in the 35+ race and actually won the cat 4/5 subgroup (12th overall).

The stake monster caught out someone in front of me on the first set of corners and I moved up a place but a minute later I gave up 3 spots by taking an uphill 180 waaaaay too wide. My excellent cornering skills I've developed this season all left me at Wheeling (along with too much braking which isn't good). That being said as we left the south section (farther from the start/finish) of the course the 55+ group caught up to a good chunk of the back end of the 35+ group. Unfortunately, it was right as we got to a quadruple off camber u-turn section where it got all backed up. And those that were able to start the section before some of the 35+ guys had a big advantage at the exit. Catching them at only 6.5 minutes into the race was far too early.

15-20 guys all jammed together

Once we hit the North section the barriers were the next obstacle. Everyone I saw ran them although my courageous inside voice tells me I could have hopped them. The rest of the first lap and beginning of the second lap was status quo except for making sure I got by the 35+ dregs.

Chris Fabri sighting (#10) and he drifts backwards during his "warmup" 35+ race.

I was sandwiched by a couple of PSIMET guys, both of whom I use as barometers for my own racing. Then, I slipped in a turn and unclipped which allowed Chris Brown to get by me. I never stopped rolling but since it was up a small rise I lost momentum. I kept with the low pressure I used the week before (22 psi front, 23 rear) but I think the rear should have been a little lower (I changed to 22 for the SingleSpeed race).

Even though the 2nd lap was my fastest things began to stretch out. And on a paved path on the 3rd lap (which should be a strength of mine) I was passed by a couple more guys. One of them over cooked a turn and went down in front of me and slowed me down enough for Fabri to get past (Grrr).

My 3rd lap was pretty slow and my 4th lap was only a little better. Midway thru the 4th lap Steve Feehrey moved from a few seconds behind me to right on my wheel. Attached to me to the point where he didn't show on the GoPro even in the u-turns.

The last you'll see of Steve

The only people in front of me the rest of the race were 35+ racers or lapped 55+ racers so there was no one to chase. Now, with Steve right behind me, my focus turned to staying in front of him and distancing him if possible. With my heart rate pegged (I averaged 166 bpm) I had a hard time thinking about the course and where I could make a difference. If you remember last week I knew I could create a gap on the uphills in the woods. But there wasn't anywhere on this course where I thought I could make a difference - at least my brain couldn't soak up enough oxygen to figure it out. My best play would be to jump the barriers but I wasn't willing to risk that on the last lap.

Just before the penultimate time across the Start/Finish I bumped into Chris again...

...He is smart enough to get out of the way and also to not disrupt Steve. In the back of my head of course I wished he'd cut him off and create a gap but that's not how we roll.

Also, in my befuddled brain, I had to try and figure out where Steve would try to pass me and be ready for it. Again, I couldn't do it. So I just kept pushing. Anytime there was a corner I tried to push hard out of it to create a gap he would have to use effort to close. But during the corners or places where I felt he couldn't get past I let off the gas a little. I realized I wasn't going to shake him and I needed to preserve at least a little energy for the end. For the last lap and a half we played this game and either I was cutting the corners so well he couldn't get by or he was as cooked as I was.

Finally, we were back into the North section and into the barriers. He is really fast running the barriers so I was a bit worried (He cruised past me at Campton). This may have contributed to a near fall as I dismounted. In the video right before the barriers you can hear a big oof as my left foot unclipped earlier than I wanted and my foot slid off and landed on the ground. Luckily, I saved it and kept going.

Steve finally tried to make his move a couple turns after the barriers. Below you can see I am set up on the outside of a left turn. I could see under my left arm that he was trying to cut under me so I knew I had to make it sharp.

I didn't shove him into the stake but he definitely had to slow down which gave me an extra gap. You can hear me huff and puff a little more right after the corner.

There was still a minute left in the race and a handful of turns so I had to keep pushing. The finish straight is really short but there is a long winding curve before it. I made sure to cut all the corners tight and got into the drops.

I took off the power meter last week to save weight but I'm sure I was pushing a bajillion watts as I sprinted it out and stayed ahead of Steve for 10th place. The last 2 minutes of the race I averaged 175 bpm. The race withing the race is what's great about cross.

I was also 3rd in the Cat 4/5 sub group.

Photo by George

Quickly, for the SingleSpeed I chose a larger gear than I though prudent for the uphill turns so that I could pedal harder everywhere else. The first 2 laps I was slowly tracking people down (except for the part where I lost concentration and ran right into a stake).

Boy meets Stake

Turns out my brain was pretty gone fore the second race and everything got sloppy. This is the only point in the 4 laps that I really messed up (and I passed the 2 guys who got by me here) but I noticed serious zoning out moments.

The last 2 laps I was pretty much on my own. No one to chase (45 seconds in front of me) and no one chasing me (a minute and a half behind). So I just cruised the rest of the way. I still averaged a 163 bpm with 164 bpm in the second half of the race.

Bob stuck around and took a few pics and there was even a cameo by Paul Connelly with the family to watch.