Race Report: Sac CX, River Walk Park

Race: Sac CX - River Walk Park Day 1 and 2

Date: 10/8/22 and 10/26/22

AVRT Racers: Nico Sandi, Peter Ambiel

Top Results: Nico Day 1 (8/25), Nico Day 2 (6/21)

Course: Day 1: A 1.31 mile course consisting of grass, sand, and hard park dirt. The course is primarily on grass along a raised levee which added significant number of off-camber switchbacks and tight S turns. One tricky descent onto the beach that was rutted out and very loose followed by a sandy loose run up. Link to course: https://www.clippedinforlife.org/our-races/sacramento-cyclocross/races/race-1/course-information/

Day 2: Reverse of Day 1. Much faster course likely due to lower temps, but it the reverse also had longer straight aways or gentle turns along grass sections that allowed racers to carry great speeds. The small descent ran opposite from Day 1, which proved to be somewhat trickier as racers rode down significantly looser sand. Link to course: https://www.clippedinforlife.org/our-races/sacramento-cyclocross/races/race-2/course-information/ 

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/7938806207  https://www.strava.com/activities/7932908341

Nutrition: Malto and gatorade mix during the race. Not enough on Day 1. Just enough on Day 2. 

Race Recap:

Saturday: Temps were close to 95 degrees on Saturday. I brought a lot of ice and ice packs and stuffed my skin suit with those during my recon and warmup. I waited by the start line to get a good starting position for way longer than anybody else and I somehow managed to end up on the second row. I’m just not aggressive enough I guess. 

Then race was FAST form the gun. The course really lent itself for fast, consistent pacing. No major climbs, not much running. Just a very technical crit on grass. 20 minutes into the race I was ready to be done. I was sitting in around 10th place and wishing I was in an air conditioned room. This was not a target race for me, just a training race, so my mind kept trying to convince me to quit. “This is too hard” “This will put you in a hole before you target races” “Just go do an easy ride by the river”. I seriously considered. 

But there was just enough people in front of me that were within reach that I stuck it out. I knew everybody was suffering. Everyone else wanted to quit. I had been passed by a couple of guys who I knew I could bring back. So I put all my focus on just riding clean lines, smooth power, and just catch those guys. With 3 laps to go I had caught them and had a decent gap. Now the game was staying away from them. No way was I going to catch the people ahead of me. 

The race turned out to be 1 hours and 6 minutes long. The longest CX race I’ve done. I averaged 182bpm for the whole hour. That’s really, really high for me. It was super hot. 

Sunday: Temps were 10 degrees cooler on Sunday! And I opted for a larger water bottle and a ziplock bag full of ice over my back, tucked in my skinsuit (thank you Eliel for the stretchy material) Plus…a very helpful lady told me to make some holes in the bag so the cold melted water would drip on my skin. GAME CHANGER! Thank you lady. 

Second row start again but I managed to get myself into the top 5 in the first lap. I was happy and also had a realistic idea of my effort and didn’t want to push too hard too soon. The lead group was within reach but I kept my own pace and focused more on keeping my position rather than over stretch myself and try to catch the fast guys. 

That strategy seemed to work as I eventually got passed by a couple of people and later in the race I caught and passed them. Perceived effort on this day was way lower than Saturday. The ice and more water and lower temps helped! But I was also a bit more conservative with my initial laps and that paid off later.

Halfway through the race I found out that the leader, Jeremy, had flatted, was all the way off the back, and that I was sitting in 5th place. I made it my goal to stay away from Jeremy as long as possible. He is fast and I could see him slowly making his way back up through the field. He was coming for me! 

Once he caught me, with 2 laps to go, I made it my new goal to stay with him and follow his lines. Great chance to learn his tricks! And I lasted a whole lap with him! The best part was seeing him take a deep sandy corner in front of me. He took it so smoothly and immediately gapped me. The next lap I tried his technique on that corner and it was mind-blowing. Of course he ended up ahead of me but I held on for 6th and was happy with my race!

Next up: Surf City!

Nico