The Big Dig

Looking back on Sunday’s race – my first in the Cat 3 field – I’m starting to think that I need to reevaluate my old notion that Cyclocross is all about going as fast as you can for as long as you can.  Instead I’m starting to think that a dig/recover, dig/recover strategy might be more effective.

On lap two of Sunday’s race we came off a long road section and dipped into some wide turns though the tape.  I was riding along with four guys when we were blitzed by Matt Stanigar.  Matt is a good technical rider and looking back on it he could have put the hammer down and taken us on the pavement, but that would have left him gassed in the turns.  Instead he waited for the technical part, put his foot on the pedal and flew past.  But he didn’t keep flying; once past our group he eased up and recovered. 

One of my bad cross habits is settling in behind slower riders.  It’s just kind of natural: grab a wheel and settle in.  Now I’m starting to see that I need an almost entirely opposite approach: move up to a wheel, put in a big dig to pass, create a gap, recover, move up to the next wheel.

The ability to dig is one thing, but knowing when to dig is another.  The Lake Sammamish course had a lot of sand, and worst of all, it had a lot of sand running.  A number of guys in my race could really run that sand and they flew past me, but then were so gassed that they nearly fell off their bikes when it came time to re-mount.  In Matt’s case he knew that he was technically better than the four guys in front of him so he waited until things got technical then he made his move. 

Previewing the course, looking for places to dig and places to recover now seems critically important.  This is where I need to dig and move up, this is where I need to recover and hold my position.