As happy as a Clyde in mud - Hillsboro race report

The heavy rain the night before promised a wet course. Arriving at Hillsboro, the sun was out and it was a balmy 50-something degrees. It was sunnies all round – glad to have had the foresight to bring mine. All up, excellent racing weather.

After receiving a good shellacking last week at Astoria I decided to return to the cocoon that is the Clydesdales. They are like family really,……….a large family. The start lottery placed me in the third last group, that is….about 70% of the way back once the call-ups and other groups were loaded into the chute. It was going to be a crowded race. Not having pre-rode the course was not an issue because, let’s face it, we all knew what lie ahead. For those not familiar with the Washington County Fairgrounds there was going to be 1.9 mile laps that included some combination of:

1) a bit of gravel road here and there
2) a brace of muddy turns
3) a couple of muddy puddle hammerfests
4) some shed ak-shon
5) and that narrow slippery off-camber stretch that ends with that nasty RH rise

This is a course that suited my Neanderthal racing brain – slip and slide round the turns, hammer the straits. Repeat.

The race itself was pretty uneventful. The corners were navigated just fine and major falls that separated rider from bike were avoided. The more I race, the more I understand my racing. For cyclocross, I need a tentative first lap to warm up and get comfortable with the course, then it’s all systems go once a rhythm is established. True to form, after a slowish start I started to reel in the Clyde and Mens C stragglers. There were a couple of decent straightaways that allowed passing, especially if one stayed on the grassy edges and away from the heavier more medial muddy sections. I heard The Neighbor several times shouting encouragement near the mud pools, and Jeff and Hugh from the tent. By the third lap, I was passing guys known to be in the top 20 Clydes. On the final lap I passed a rider who had bested me at Alpenrose and managed to hold him off until the end. Sweet! Finished around 10th.

                                                    Graceful cornering (photo: R. Rosko)

Overall, quite pleased with the race. The relatively non-technical course made it very Wombat-friendly. I felt strong and made up a lot of ground from the rear of the field and could have done with an additional lap. There were no costly falls and no injuries (yay).

Most importantly of all, the mud is good for my skin.