Race Riots

Quickly and dirtily: Jiminy Peak rolls off this weekend. The fields are nearly all full, which is fitting of a classic like this that has been on the calendar for decades. I sometimes date myself by calling J.P. "Brodie Mountain" as it was known back when the finish was at the other ski area on Route 7. This was the site of my second USCF Cat 4 race (there was no Cat 5 back then) and my first crash. Suffering a mild concussion (which might explain a lot), I don't remember too much about it.

We (my inner circle) have been discussing rules and category mixing lately. Three reasons, one that the NEBRA board sent out a solicitation for suggested rules changes, and two, there is a meeting after JP to discuss "problems with women's racing" in which low turnout is cited as one problem. First of all, drawing conclusions at the end of friggin' April for turnout this season makes no sense whatsoever. Second of all, if you compare the number of racer days for men/women and compare it with the number of licensees for each in the region, my guess is the women's turnout would be as good or better than the mens, especially if you take events with no separate women's category (such as Wompatuck) out of the calculation. Last but certainly not least, we have category mixing. Anyone who can remember back more than 10 years knows that before Gerri Moriarty started the Cat 4 women's series, a promoter was lucky to get a total of 25 women for a race. Separating out the Cat 4's brought people into the sport, and just look at what we have today. This concept seems to have been lost. Now we have combined 3/4 women, or worse, 1-4. Many races have both a 3/4 and a 1-3. If Cat 3 women wanted to race with the 4's, then they shouldn't have upgraded. Combining Cat 1-4 (as they did at JP this year) is just nuts! Keep in mind that there is no Cat 5 for women. We generally prohibit Cat 5 men from racing with Master fields, even though only a handful of Masters are above Cat 3 (and many who are downgrade so they can cherry pick Cat 3 senior races with good prize lists). So why is it OK to make Cat 1 and 2 women races with FIRST TIME RIDERS???? Plain and simple, it is not, and it does not benefit either group. The current trend toward category mixing in the men's fields is not much better either. I agree that promoters have tough choices, but mixing beginners in just because they are women is wrong.

I am also surprised that thus far nobody has taken my flame bait on the cyclocross barrier rule. Maybe I'll have to try again in the fall. Canton, Chainbiter, the Gloucesters, and Noho all rocked because they were fast courses where you stayed on the bike and RACED! Back in the bad old days of Steven's "sundial" courses where you never rode more than 60 seconds without a barrier, after 20 minutes 90% of the field was trudging around in survival mode with no concern whatsoever about their position. We were just trying to finish without breaking a leg or a neck. Now we have riders in 50th place drafting, attacking, and setting up for sprint finishes. Almost like bike racing! Having Stevens skirt the rules at Nats with his "stairs" was a disservice to gains the sport has made. That course would have had far better racing and less lapped riders if the rules had been adhered to. Allowing the changes was a mistake by the officials.

Yes folks, another longish entry today (well, not really). I am taking advantage of my "easy" week and enjoying one of my favorite pastimes, toast and coffee while the early morning sun streams in the window. Yesterday I just spun 50 minutes on the trainer to wake the legs up after my first two days in a row off the bike this year. Later at lunch I ran 40 minutes (my usual loop plus a short extension). My running speed seems to be lacking lately. I thought running was supposed to slow down my riding, but it seems the other way around. Now I am going to pack up my MTB and gear so that after work I can head over to Blue Hills and ride around traffic free. If I feel good I might do some efforts on the access road, but I'll have nice easy gears if I want to ride part of it without undue stress. Thanks for reading.