Race Report: Mare Island CX - Open A

Race: Mare Island PedalFest

Date: 9/25/22

AVRT Racers: Nico Sandi

Top Results: Nico (4/16)

Course: Probably my favorite CX race on the calendar. The course is sooooo fun. It weaves in and out of abandoned shipyards and a school and parks. Niky described it best on her race report: “The course was described as “urban cyclocross” and “riding through 142 years of Naval history.” I did not learn much about Naval history but we did have to ride over some thick anchor chains, through some water, over wood chips, around a lot of trees and sharp corners, and much more. Apparently the course had 15 features but I’m not sure what they were counting because I felt like there were at least 100”. 

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/7867391944

Nutrition: Malto and gatordade mix during the race. Gummies galore before. 

Race Recap:

I did this race last year and got second in the A field. But last year this race was not part of the Bay Area Super Prestige series. This year it was added on so it meant the field was way stronger. Including eventual winner, Ben Frederick, who was fresh off some UCI races in the east coast. 

The start was a mess because some people took a wrong turn right on the first corner and it meant I was at the front. With a decent gap! For like 1 minute. Amazing! 

With the adrenaline of a good start and wanting to stay away I pushed more than I should have. There was a straight away with two mulch mounts. I took it too fast and went right over my handlebars. Oops. I got back up quick and caught up with the chase group. By now Ben had taken off never to be seen again. We were racing for second. The course included a lot of pavement and I could tell early on that people were afraid to rip the corners like a crit. Dirt corners we were taking like champs. Paved corners not so much. 

I stayed with this group for a whole lap and attacked going through the start finish area. I was able to get a gap and rode in second place for the next whole lap, with Sacramento CX legend Jeremy following closely. I was happy with my lines during the race. I was able to rip paved corners and had a ton of fun! It was in that lap that I realized how much better I had gotten technically. My fitness still needed work but I felt confident in my handling. Jeremy caught me at the start of lap three and I was not able to match him on the power sections. I was getting ready to settle for 3rd. 

But on lap 4 I was caught by another guy who put in a solid attack to get away and I was also not able to respond. I was able to match his times on the lap but it was that initial acceleration that left me hanging. I rode a solid final lap making sure not to get caught by anybody else and rode it in for 4th. 

The main learning of this race was to dig a little more to try to match an initial acceleration. With little to no drafting in CX it is important to go with a move and know that it will eventually settle into a pace I know I am comfortable with. 

Nico