The Devil in the YELLOW dress...Devil's Cross 2k11

You can get 1000' of YELLOW tape for about $6.

YELLOW TAPE
A great sign that the economy is rebounding can be seen at cyclo-cross races this year... the superfluous amounts of YELLOW TAPE.  Back in the recession-era of 2009, race organizers had to limit the amount of YELLOW tape they used due to budgetary restrictions.  This is no longer the case, as all of the races I have done this year have strategically taped off courses to make them as technical as possible... there is YELLOW tape everywhere.  Gone are the days of long grinding straight-aways, lung/leg busting run-ups, and courses infused with roadway sections.  If you like twisting and turning, then the course designers this year have not let you down.

Ok, I guess I am a bit frustrated because I was hoping this race located in Devil's Glen Park (Bettendorf, IA)  would really work out well for me.  The promo description read "The course is as tacky as the Dice Man's riddles. Add that to the Snake Alley steep climb, the 3 run ups, the Tiger pit, Quicksand, and 50 foot rappel, and we should have a bit of fun Sunday".   3 run-ups, a sand trap, tackiness... Yes!... I have been waiting for a course like this all season.  There isn't much I can do about my enjoyment of applying the brakes during technical sections, but I can train my power, VO2, leg/core strength, etc.  My training wasn't typical, I am sure, but strategic to potentially give me an edge given the right set of circumstances.

Cross-dressing YELLOW Devil.

Unfortunately, the pre-race marketing turned out to be exaggerated.  I didn't really notice any run-ups nor sand.  Rather, the devil dressed the course with loads of YELLOW tape.  The climb (Phil's Hill) was steep, however, and allowed for a great place to dig deep and really 'feel' the effort.  The course was very well designed and truly was fun, but again, I thought this was going to be a race best suited for cross-fit types... it ended up being a race best suited for cyclists... dang.

I lined up for the Master's 35+ still determined to win, however.  The ref counted down in an odd fashion that included the use of the number  '0'... this busted up my launch, and I started out in the back of the bunch as usual.  Race winner Ron Bridal propelled to the front and never looked back, literally, as he got a huge early gap and we never saw him again.  The rest of us battled it out for 2nd.  I found my way to this position and began building a gap on Andy Breitsprecher (DICE) who was hot in pursuit. I can tell he really wanted to do well in his team's race.  His efforts seemed futile, however, as I was edging away.

Smooth naviagation through YELLOW tape is a required skill set of the succesful Cyclo-Crosser.

The course gave an advantage to those who could navigate through YELLOW tape with the least amount of effort.  You had to stay focused on your technique.  I let my mind lapse a bit and washed out during one of the downhill turns.  I slid right under the YELLOW tape.  As I collected myself, Andy came by and shouted at me to get out of his way.  I had crap in my cogs and my gears didn't seem to be shifting.  Eventually, I regained my composure, and held on to the 3rd place. 

I have new reasons to be cautious
near YELLOW tape.

A couple of laps later I got caught up in the YELLOW tape in that same section.  My handle bars were tangled up... ridiculous.  I guess I was getting tired.  I crossed the line feeling a bit beat down, mentally, as the course got the best of me, just not in the way I had hoped.  I held on for 3rd place which meant I added another envelope to my collection.  I was happy about that, though have a strange new aversion to the color YELLOW.  This concerns me because I am sort of a LIVESTRONG type guy, and appreciate the YELLOW Jersey as an icon of perserverance.

For whatever reason, I am getting pretty comfortable with the concept of racing two cross events in one day this year. I surmise that part of this is my evolving fitness, but seriously do think the courses have slowly become less physical, and more technical over the years.  I think the courses used to have to include a certain percentage of 'off the bike' sections, for example.  This doesn't seem to be the case anymore.  Running with a bike uphill is grueling, but something that I can train for.  This is a great time of the year for me to cross-train with weights, running, plyo-metrics, isometrics, calisthenics, etc.  I enjoy taking a break from racking up the outdoor road mileage.  This means I may sacrifice a bit of pure-cycling strength, but enjoy a more balanced state of overall physical capability.

So, I did line up for the Open race later that day, but really wasn't entertaining any notion of success.  You can tell who thinks they have a shot at winning because they line up in front row.  I lined up in the second row.  Not many people opt to double up their cross races... Justifications I use to motivate a second entry include: 1) getting in a good workout, 2) improving technical skills, 3) I'd rather be in a bike race rather than watch it,  and 4) a chance to conquer the inner demons (devils?) that suggested racing twice was asking for trouble.

The race went well with my proudest accomplishment being that I didn't get lapped by race winner Kevin McConnel.  I used to get lapped back in the early days of my racing career, but thankfully this doesn't seem to be happening anymore.

I found myself racing with a guy named Brett from Peoria for the last couple of laps... sort of a race within a race as we traded places off and on.  I anticipated that it would come down to the sprint up that steep hill (Phil's Hill) that was about 50 meters from the finish.  Sure enough, I hit it hard up the hill and he followed.  I got a gap, but he persisted and I only beat him by about a wheel's length (finishing 9th out of 15 starters).  That was an intense effort and worth my $5 entry fee to see (and feel) it play out.

The DICE guys did a great job putting this event on..  it truly was a great Cyclo-cross race.  If I had done better the report would have read differently.  This was a tough field.  I can specifically suggest that the top three guys are possibly the strongest cyclo-cross competitors this year in Iowa (Kevin McConnel, Matias Perret, and Nate Kullborn).

I am happy that I decided to do cross races this year.  It really did motivate my training while providing an opportunity to develop my technical skill set.  I am in a great frame of mind (aside from the YELLOW phobia issue) as I begin to anticipate my 2012 racing season.