China CX Part 2: Race Day

The Qiansen Trophy Series is China's first-ever UCI cyclocross race. Sponsored by the Qiansen Engineering Corporation all riders were provided round-trip airfare and a week's worth of transportation, food and lodging at one of Yanqing's premier spa and resort. This post is the second in a series that attempts to relay just a few of the incredible moments we, as riders, were blessed to experience.
China CX Part 1
So by now you know that we haven't been sold into white slavery and that this race is actually happening.
Over the previous days we had ample opportunity to ride the course and familiarize ourselves with all the little quirks. Good thing too because this definitely isn't one of those courses you show up an hour beforehand, spin two laps and then go race (at least for me anyway). According to others, this was a full-Euro course complete with steep and slick drop offs, a sharp turns onto pavement and then another sharp turn to go right back up. We got our first ride on the course Thursday, after a few days of rain earlier in the week. Seems like half of us hit the ground at least one. Yeah, one of those kind of courses.

Beligian U23 bike after first course preview
those two black lines aren't supposed to be there
"added vertical compliance"

another victim of the course preview

Over the next several days we got a chance to ride the course every day, totaling almost 5 hours of preview time; I needed it.  While there was no elevation gain on this course it was deceptively hard.  It included the aforementioned steep drops in addition to two nasty sets of log stairs right after the start, a stair flyover and several bridges designed and constructed by the event sponsor (Qiansen Engineering Corporation).  On top of that the only "power" sections of the course are so bumpy that it feels like you're holding onto a jack hammer instead of your handlebars.  No rest or power sections, you're either driving your bike or hanging on for dear life, hoping you make the turn so you don't land in the creek.

attending rider stats

Oh, and it's a long one, 3.5km/lap, the longest course allowable under UCI rules.  

After a few days on the course I no longer felt like I was going to fly into the creek or break myself six times per lap and actually started enjoying the course.  While everything seemed about a half step off I was able to find the fastest way through sections and started to look forward to the actual race.

someone has to start last, right?

Race day.  63 racers on the start list, 61 starters, I pull number 61.  I came into this race with pretty low expectations but this actually motivated me, only one way to go from here.

start chute

Normally I have a pretty poor start, especially when starting from the back but somehow I managed to squeeze into the low 40s after the first two corners through some creative maneuvering and a healthy share of elbows both given and received.  Now if I can just hold on to it.  The first few laps were madness as the fast guys tried to move up where they could and the slow guys tried to hang on for dear life, fighting for each corner.  Two laps in and I'd already passed half a dozen guys with dropped chains, rolled tires and broken derailleurs.  Somehow my legs decided that they felt awesome and I was shredding lines I bumbled through on the pre-ride.  About three laps in I was going back and forth with Drew Dillman (legit U23 racer) and Lewis Rattray (Australian World Cup cx racer)-no idea what these guys were doing back with me.  Rattray and I fought for the line leading into the steep dropoff and I won.  I took the corner hot so as not to get run over and my tires hooked up just a bit too well.  Damn, rolled a portion of my rear tubular off.  

Screw it, I didn't come here to drop out of the race, I'm going to finish this.  I came here to get my name in the results and I did just that.  I push the tire back onto the rim and run to the top of the hill.  From then on out I rode conservatively, taking corners within reason and just trying to finish in one piece.  I got pulled with two laps to go and placed 49th.  Definitely better than I was expecting, especially for pulling the plug halfway through.

someone had a rough race

That's the crappy thing though, I got out there and my legs felt awesome.  You always seem to look back and ask what could have been.  Could I have finished on the lead lap?  It would have been tough but I think I would have been right there.  There's absolutely no way I could have ridden into the money in the top 25, even with an awesome race and a good call up but then I remembered what one of the American riders said when we were hanging out Thursday evening, "My result here doesn't dictate the success of this trip."  Spot on.  I'm happy with the fact that I had good legs, felt good about my race and came home with bike and body in one piece.  Hard to complain about that.

handup grabs; worth a whopping $0.50

While the course was definitely pro-level, the next area of concentration is spectators.  The Americans definitely brought the party out to the course with money hand ups and heckling.  The Chinese spectators sat and silently snapped pictures.  I know it's completely a culture thing but it's oddly eerie when you're ripping through corners and you see a few dozen people lining the course but all you hear is the sporadic "click-click."  Cyclocross is definitely a new (let's face it, completely unknown) sport over there so it'd be interesting to go back next year and see how the culture has changed.  

The one thing I did miss out on were rider cards.  The locals ate those up.  You pull out a piece of cardstock with your name and picture on that and you're immediately swarmed.  Ants to honey, school kids to candy, you get the idea.  Oh well, lessons for next time.

motor pacing on the way home

And now that the race is over let the real party begin.  Next up: The Afterparty.