I ended up coming in 458 place out of approx 1230. Definitely some room for improvement... Time was approx 2:35, which I am pretty pleased with overall. Hell, I was happy just to finish. And I survived (you can only say that the next morning cause until then it feels like you are about to have a heart attack at any moment - you know, kind of shaky, not 100% normal, etc.)
And I can think of a few things that cost me probably 5-6 mins and easily a couple of dozen or more spots - I promptly lost a waterbottle out of that water bottle cage within the first 500m (hit some good bumps on a dirt road) and I braked to get it then thought maybe not so good idea with all the hundreds of people likely close behind me; we got stopped at an intersection for 3 minutes to let some backed up cars pass (I was literally the first person the traffic cop stopped after having blown by several dozen mountain bike riders on a flat section); and since I had other waterbottle in jersey pocket, I stopped to drink a couple of times at 2 rest stops and got banana at same time too.
Notes for next time - use a Camelbak - easier to drink from more often since often tough to take even one hand off the bars because of terrain. Lose 20-30 pounds. That should help too.
By the way, bike was awesome. I used every gear, more than once. Although I noticed there was this bizarre rubbing sound when in large chain ring and in the larger rings of the rear cassette. Took me a while to figure out what it was 'cause it was kind of like wheel rub noise, i.e. occasional and regular. Shifting otherwise was very good and braking was so good almost hard to believe - compared to my touring bike, the brakes on this thing dug in and stopped it instantly. Actually had to be careful going down the technical stuff not to brake too hard with front wheel ...
Chain only came off once (to inside) and I had put what is called a "chain fang" on the bike - basically a plastic clamp that goes around seat tube and closes gap between inner chainring and seat tube - which allowed me to shift the chain right back on because it did not drop between seat tube and chainring.
The bike handled great - I was going up stuff that I could not believe possible, going through stuff I was surprised the bike could handle, over things, through deep bumps, etc. Course I had to be careful to keep my weight back far enough to avoid some clear over-the-handlebar type scenarios (as I watched others balance on their front wheel - a losing strategy). Glad I had those tires because seemed to be pretty good on flat parts but had lots of traction for what ended up being some serious mud, some serious singletrack climbs, etc. I have so many visuals playing through my head of what the bike had to deal with its too bad I did not do the helmet cam thing. One wild (and long) ride!
Actually some guy named "Jacques" from Montreal came up to me after the race and was admiring the bike and the welding job on the frame, etc. He does a lot of cyclocross in montreal apparently and rides a steel frame too .... He had a real retro look to him ....
Got to say, it was the only bike of its kind there!
Paid $5 for a bike wash at the end so left all the mud in its natural habitat. Air dried it on the bike rack on the way home. A wax and a polish and it should look like brand new.
What a blast and look forward to doing it again next year.
Good read, congrats! And thanks for your comments on my blog, appreciate it. Someday I'll go cyclocross, although I can think of a bunch of times in that race where I would have been scared out of my mind! :)
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