So yesterday was my first cyclocross race in 2 years. It went okay. Most of my training is “steady state” and I’m lacking that high end right now. I cannot complain with the result. 33rd out of 63 racers. They seeded us be date registered, so as # 960 and only 63 people registered, I was way in the back row….Like 9th row. So Needless to say, just the fact that I finished in the top 35 was okay by me. That was a lot of moving up to do.
We ended up with 5 laps of racing. About 1200 feet of climbing. This course was pretty hilly. I overcooked a corner in the first 5 minutes of racing and went sliding across the grass, but corrected any mistakes after that.
The bike handled okay. It doesn’t like the off camber tight stuff overly much. I was having a tough time in one section with 3 S-turns that were all on an off camber. I kept having to fight the bike through this section.
Here is a video I found from the 45+ race. This is not me, and I am not positive who shot it. I don’t know the guy, but you can see the first lap of his race.
I’m glad to also report that the Stan’s Alpha 340 wheelset performed pretty darn nice. I think the Michelin Mud2 tires were probably my issue with the off camber stuff. I had no issues with burping the tires or anything else. I had 24 psi in the front and about 28 psi in the rear.
I did have one issue on lap 3 where my chain came off the front ring. Odd since I am running a single ring. This took me about 20 seconds to remedy. I’ll have to keep an eye on that and maybe take out a link or two on the chain.
Next Saturday is Williston, VT. I tossed a 39 tooth ring to replace the 42 on the front for this race. It too has a fair amount of climbing.
I am still trying to decide if I drive up the day of (2.5 hours) or grab a hotel Friday night?
Thanks for reading,
-Pete
ON & OFF RHODES 
Pete, congrats on the race. I am a newbie who was left trailing in your wake. Really enjoyed my first cross race but was also running Mud 2 and having handling problems on off-camber sections. I put it down to my poor bike-handling so was interested in your comment – what’s your overall view of these tyres (I am on clinchers )? What terrain should I worry about? Thanks, Adam
@Adam- I’m a big fan of the muds for all around use. They are good at everything, but not great at everything. If I was going to race that course again, I would want something with a little more side knob. Not sure what would have worked best though. I’ve only used Mud2 and Vittoria for clinchers. Some of the Maxxis tires look promising though.
I think races like Sucker Brook they should be fine. Curious to see how the go in VT this weekend.
Good luck in VT, good to hear that you see Muds as a good all-rounder, ironically I heard that thick mud is the most challenging for these tires (I’m a Brit but should use US spellings unlike previous comment). I am just starting out so don’t want to invest in many tire choices just yet. I am planning to do White Park, Gloucester and Sucker Brook over next few weeks.