The track had suffered enough damage over the past few days that they had to change it in some places. Wednesday and Thursday it was raining and wet, so the course turned to mud. Then it got really cold, so the ground and all of the muddy ruts froze. As a result, the tires would get caught and areas of the course were basically impassable by bicycle. Since the course was defined by stakes in the ground, they just moved everything a few feet to the side.
The races were 5 laps long, taking about 45 minutes total. We got there just in time to see the last lap of the Mens 45-49, and then watched the Mens 40-44 and 35-39 races. As a result of the course getting warmer as the day progressed, it got softer, muddier and slicker as the ground thawed. Despite the racers getting younger, the times got a little slower.
The first race was a blowout, with the winner out in front by over a minute. The second race had two teammates dueling for the lead the entire time, and finishing within a few lengths of each other adn then a group of 4 battling for 3rd. The last race had a great battle for the win, as the leader, who had jumped out in front on the first lap and then built up a 30 second lead saw it getting whittled down. After 3 laps it was 20s, and after 4 it was 12s. Throughout the last lap they kept calling out the gap. It dropped to 8, then went back to 10 and held steady as the 2 riders came towards the final section. The last technical bit had a uphill mud climb, that many had to run, followed by a horse shoe bend downhill and uphill that most just ran through. Then it was just a few slow section with moderate turns until hitting the straight pavement for the last 100 or so yards to the finish. As the 1st place rider crested the hill to start down the horseshoe and checked his gap it looked to be a done deal. He chose to ride down the horseshoe and crashed at the bottom. He jumped back up, but had lost a few seconds. He ran up the the steep uphill with a 6s or so lead, still looking good for the win. However, as he mounted the bike, something wasn't working right, not uncommon as the sheer amount of mud on the bikes was fouling chains and derailleurs all over the place. It slowed him down just long enough to get passed, and as they hit the asphalt he was a few bike lengths behind and stayed that way through the finish.
Interesting for me, there is a professional motorcycle racer, Ben Bostrom, who got into cycling a few years ago for off-season training. He's become more serious about it over the years, and he was racing in the Mens 35-39. He finished pretty well, around 10th place.
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