Answer: Racing cyclocross on a single speed.
Friday on the way home from work I suddenly had a thought pop into my head out of the blue: I wanted to race cyclocross on Saturday. The only problem I could see with the plan was the complete and utter lack of a cross bike.
So what to race? I could have raced the geared Karate Monkey, but it's just such a tank; nobody should have to carry that thing over a barrier. I considered changing the gearing on one of my single speeds and racing that. Then it occurred to me what would be the perfect bike for the Granite Bay course—my grocery store bike.
I figure my Miyata 210 hails from the 1970s. It's so old, it has no water bottle or shifter braze-ons. I had already converted the front end to a somewhat cyclocross configuration. I just needed to figure out how to get it shifting right; downtube shifting wasn't going to cut it. After thinking about all the work involved in changing out all the parts, I decided it would be easier to just strip the gears off.
So as I was driving I tried to figure out what would be a good single speed gear. A 2:1 on a mountain bike is everyone's starting point, but I figured it needed to be a higher ratio for cyclocross. I thought a 39x18 might be about right. I jumped off the freeway and hit the only bike shop on the way home, Bicycle Planet. They had a great selection of Surly cogs—everything except an 18. I grabbed a 17 instead.
Since it was payday, we went from the bike shop to Costco for our monthly shopping. As usual, the store was a complete zoo. After shopping, unloading, making dinner and eating, I wasn't in the mood for working on the bike. It would have to wait until morning.
The next morning I stripped off the rack, gears, etc. I borrowed the solid axle from a single speed and installed it in the rear wheel. I eyeballed a good chainline and put the 17t cog on there with a bunch of spacers I cannibalized from a spare cassette. I shortened up the chain, re-adjusted the brakes and installed the clipless pedals. I finished the bike about 20 minutes before I had to leave. Sweet.
I ran around the house grabbing what I needed, threw Spencer (and Jenn) in the truck, and headed out. We arrived at the race with 25 minutes to spare. I registered, dressed and hopped on the bike. The gearing felt a little tall. The seat was a bit low with clipless pedals. After a quick saddle height adjustment, I was ready to go.
I rode a bit of the course to get a feel for the bike, and did one set of barriers. It was the first dismount I had attempted in three years. It was not pretty. I rolled to the start line with four minutes to spare.
I was racing in the open single speed class, which means that any age or ability is welcome as long as you have one gear. Typically you have a couple guys who are A-level racers. We were racing with the 18-34 Bs and would do 45 minutes, which equated to five laps. There were seven single speeds and 18 Bs for a total of 25. Pretty low turnout, but probably typical. I think most cross racers are over 35 years old.
We took off and I was sitting in the top five. Blazing down a wide path three abreast, I was surprised how fast I could go with the 39x17 gearing. As the road funneled down to a right turn onto some singletrack, I let a number of people cut in rather than get tangled up in a crash. After about a half lap, I took a peek behind me to see nobody. Once again I was the last guy in the first group.
One of the single speed guys pulled away and was never seen again. He was very fast, and won the overall race. There was one other single speeder in front of me, and he too was quickly pulling away.
On the second lap four of us fell off the back of the lead group, and I would stay with this group, all geared racers, for the rest of the race. My barrier technique was as rusty as the bike I rode. There were two sets of barriers per lap. Every time we hit a set of barriers, I would lose ground to my three companions and have to chase back. My sloppy technique cost me a lot of time.
When we hit the line for the fourth lap there wasn't a soul behind me. I figured I had third place single speed locked up. My group was slowing and really holding me up in the singletrack, but I wasn't worried because I couldn't catch second place and there was a huge gap behind me. All I had to do was ride it out. Or so I thought.
Towards the end of the fourth lap, I looked back and a guy on a white bike was coming, and moving fast. Where the hell did he come from? As I neared the finish he got close enough that I could see he was rolling one gear. Damn! I put the hammer down and cursed my lackadaisical attitude. I should have been on the gas instead of sitting in.
Going through the barriers at the end of lap four, my group started playing cat-and-mouse to see who would lead up the long straightaway into the strong headwind. They had me boxed in, so I made a little bit of a reckless move to get between them. As I squeezed through, one of the guys punched me on the hip. I really wanted to tackle his ass, but I was more concerned with putting some distance between myself and the guy coming up behind me.
I dropped the geared group on the wide path, and the single speeder chasing me also got around them. He made up ground quickly and nipped me right before we turned onto the single track. I was right on his wheel when we hit a hill that was pretty tough the fifth time up, and he gapped me. I was on the verge of blowing up, so I backed off the throttle a bit. He quickly pulled away. Bye-bye podium finish.
Now the three musketeers were back, and I held them off as long as I could, but eventually all three went around me during the last lap. I let them go; they weren't in my class anyway, although I would have enjoyed beating the guy who punched me.
At the finish I was fourth in the single speed class, and 10th out of 25 overall. I was pleased with my effort, since I'm certain I was the oldest guy out there, and I hadn't raced cyclocross in three years.
Later.
