Anatomy of a Win: NCGP 2012

This past weekend was my favorite cyclocross race of the year, the North Carolina Gran Prix in Hendersonville, NC.  It's as close as I have to a real hometown race that's on a pretty big stage (the elite race is UCI!), I won here in 2009, and get to see a lot of friends and family when I go out.  It also allows me to really focus on the routine I like to go through when prepping for a cross race, since I can do recon, bring all my gear, and sleep in my own bed.

The real preparation however, begins months before the race when the big training "bolus" takes place.  In this instance, I like to do a little rest block in July after a pretty thorough road season, and then do a big volume block in August to get ready for the cross season.  Last year I did more intensity in August, since I took a break before a second build up to the World Championships, but this year I did one big build for a peak in November.  Unfortunately the NCGP move to December threw me for a bit of a loop, but I was able to hang on.  So this year after my huge volume block (for me) in August, I rolled into 6 weeks of VO2 intervals interspersed with some of the local cross training races.  These provide a similar training stimulus with a nice mental "break" from my normal indoor training routine.  Oh, and they are fun!  This brings my fitness up to par for a month or so of race-specific training in October for the November peak, which I can typically hold for about a month.

This past week I was especially nervous, as my early season goal of winning the NC State Championships 2 weeks prior had morphed into "win every Masters race I enter", including the NCGP!  I had done just that since October's first NCCX races and now I had just one weekend left.  Working 70+ hours a week for the past 3 weeks wasn't ideal prep, and I trained less than 10 hours TOTAL since November.  I wrestled with myself mentally, and even considered not racing.  However the evening before I pre-rode the course and after a few laps, I felt confident and set my goal to getting the "hole shot".  I then walked through different mental scenarios as I visualized the win.

The morning of the race I woke up and began to focus 100% of my mental energy on what it would take to win against a competitive field.  When my wife ran through my "chores" for the weekend in anticipation of my youngest son's 1st birthday, I threw out a challenge, "If I win today, I won't race tomorrow".  Secretly this would help motivate me, and alleviate the stress of figuring out how to recover after the race when I had to go to a Christmas party, shop, cook, and clean the next day for a 4PM party!  The challenges of a Masters racer . . .

I drove to the race separately from my family, taking my 2 Specialized Crux cyclocross bikes, one equipped for my pit bike, and the other, my stripped-down race steed.  Both bikes have been awesome this year, and I can't thank Motion Makers, Specialized, and I9 enough for their support in this area.  I rolled up to the course, blasting some Beastie Boys to psych myself up, registered, and started my pre-ride laps.  My preferred method is to walk the course, watching how other racers negotiate the course, however with my familiarity of this course, I was comfortable getting right to my laps.  The focus is on the "perfect line" and tire pressure.  I like to start around 28psi, and went down to 26 on Saturday, but was bottoming out on some rocks on the backside of the course, so I settled on 27psi.  Incidently, the lower the pressure, the lower the rolling resistance off-road.  After hitting a few key sections at race-speed, I returned to the car and to watch my oldest son complete his kids race!  Then it was back to the warmup.  If it's cold and/or wet, I ride on the trainer.  However I like warming up on the road if there is a good stretch of pavement and I can focus.  I typically get in a 5 minute tempo effort, followed by 15-30 second race starts.

Once warm, I hit the start line about 10 minutes early to get my spot, be careful to stay warm.  My focus on Saturday was to get the "hole shot", so I concentrated and focused on not only the starter, but on my pedal.  I find if I get clipped in I have a decent start.  The whistled blew and GO!, off we went!  Through my tunnel vision, I could see riders on either side of me approaching, but I shifted up, up, up and hit the grass first.  I negotiated the early turns comfortably, and maintained my lead.  We hit the back stretch and I sprinted all-out on to the pavement, and then hit the climb with some power.  After staying "safe" on the sidehill section I again sprinted all-out onto the paved start-finish and still had my gap!  Looking back at the lap times, I had the fastest lap of the race on this lap so I wasn't being TOO safe!

The Hendersonville course is a "roadie" course, with lots of pedaling and pavement.  Unfortunately this pavement can work to a rider's disadvantage if he has a bunch of other racers sitting on his rear wheel.  With this in mind I decided to keep my head down and try to maintain my gap.  I then settled in, and focused on hitting the fast sections super-hard, and being as smooth as possible through the twisty and grass sections.  The tough thing about being in the lead is that one mistake can lose your race, but the chasers can go for broke and keep the pressure on!  Fortunately on Saturday, my latent fitness, my prep, and my knowledge of the course helped me to maintain my gap to my first "Line to Line" win, in front of my home crowd!

Check out a video here: http://www.citizen-times.com/videonetwork/2038038454001?odyssey=mod|tvideo|article

Interview: http://www.cyclingdirt.org/coverage/250065-2012-North-Carolina-Grand-Prix/video/670124-Chris-Larsen-Wins-AGAIN-at-the-NCGP-Day-1

More photos: http://www.weldonweaver.com/Racing/12-12-NCCX10-11-UCI/12-12-NCCX10-11-Sat-Masters/27148723_nRwTpV#!i=2279149598&k=bx7G5GN