Quick Provo post

The Providence CX festival marked the second weekend of a wicked sweet “NECX superweek”. Two days of Gloucester and The Night Weasels Cometh meant some were racing 5 times in 9 days.

Day 1, Cat 3, laps 1 and 1/2

My Providence experience lasted only about 2 laps unfortunately as the day was plagued with misfortune. With zero Verge points (not sure I agree with using Verge points for non-Verge races….I’ve never felt slighted by cxresults lineups) but an early registration number I lined up mid pick in a center slot. At the gun, someone a row ahead and two slots to my left cut across the field, pushing others into my lane (this hard to see in the video). Poor start but settled in and went to work.

With tires at 45psi, front and rear, and hovering on the saddle I thought I was immune to the roots and pave transitions. First lap was fine until the ‘half pipe’ section where at the compression my bars rotated down and cinched my brake cables and pulled the rear derailleur out of alignment. I kept the pedals turning and fumbled with barrel adjusters when the terrain allowed for one handed riding for the rest of lap 1. On lap two (just after the video cuts out) I was passed by teammate Cory J and was then t-boned through the tape at the corner following the cement stairs, giving up many slots in the process. And then after the barriers on lap 3 my rear tire gave out on a corner indicating low tire pressure. 50 feet later I was running to the pit. Changed out the wheel (Why was there not neutral support at this event?) and flatted again half a lap later. Started walking to my car and ran into Devo already in street clothes with beer in hand having experienced similar luck. Frustrated, I decided to skip Sunday.

Are tubulars in my future?