The first ever CX (Amateur) Masters Worlds competition held in the USA took place this past January 11-15th in Louisville, KY. The races were well attended by nationally ranked CX racers across and many World champions, such as Steve Tilford, Ned Overend, Gunnar Shogren and Kathy Savary (NH). Only a handful of Canadians and Europeans participated.
My boyfriend, Paul, had traveled with "the crew" from New Jersey to Madison, WI - where they attended Nationals - and had circled down to Louisville, KY arriving at the course early to glean any insights. The report came back:"All is well and the course is dry with a steep fly-over... fast, with one technical section". Well...this all changed in a matter of hours because the weather changed. In cross, the weather can affect everything from your tire selection, to your warm up plan - and to a greater extent your entire race strategy. The race started on Wednesday with the qualifying races for the men. At some point shortly thereafter, it started to rain - and since the race promoters thought it was a good idea to set up the course in a flood plain - it was pretty awful. Weds eve the temperatures dropped and Thursday is was cold - and it started to snow. Thursday eve it got even colder and then the course froze. So you're thinking "So what? This is what cross is about "Just do it". Here's what made CX World the most exciting race ever: The course froze such that every tire track made a criss-cross of tire tracks making it impossible to take the normal lines. It was now not only a race of fitness, but a race of technical skill and just basic luck. Friday the 13th, the first day of finals, became a very difficult day for many riders. This was a Worlds competition and no one was going to hold back. The start was a long 200+ yd paved section with a transition on to choppy terrain. To summarize, I saw more crashes that day than I've seen all year. When I pre-rode the course that day, my heart sank. It was so difficult that I sincerely believed, if I finished my race on Sunday, I would be darn lucky. Many of my friends raced Saturday when the conditions became even worse as the sun created a glaze on top of the frozen ruts. The only thing that could make it worse is if it snowed again. I kept practicing, re-riding the tricky sections several times until I wasn't apprehensive in my approach.
Although it snowed the morning of my race, I was actually feeling quite good - somehow, my tires were handling the conditions well. At the line up, you usually know who is who - but in this case, there was no qualifier and you had to have done your homework. All I knew was Walker & Walberg (both Cat 1) were duking it out for the title as they did at Nat's the week before. Walberg was the favored rider and would probably win. I had a good start and was pretty excited because I was toward the front and had made a safe transition from the tarmac through the choppy section. Catherine Walberg got the hole shot. Karen Trip flew by me as she's done in every New England race. Before the barriers I had caught up with Catherine Walberg and she barked "NOT HERE!" She was probably right, it wasn't the best place to pass...but then again, this was Worlds. All decided in a mili-second, I let her go. Unfortunately for her, frozen ruts didn't suit her well and at the next big turn she and her bike landed miles apart. I kept the pressure on and rode "clean" the rest race. My friends & Paul were all there - giving me encouragement. Elated to finish, I crossed the line 7th in the World.
Photos: Top: Local, Todd Bowden (EXPO) finsished 4th in the men's 40-44 field.
Middle: Amanda & Karen Tripp at the finish. Everyone gets a medal!
Bottom: The "run up"
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