The very first ride on the Cross Machine CX01 was the fastest at Tucson’s CX #2 event. Early in the race Evan, Jake and I got a bit of a gap on a hard chasing Kyle and others. On the third lap Evan eased up just a bit and went to the front to turn up the pace just a bit. It was enough to open a gap so I kept it pinned and tried to open it up a bit. Evan was the first to flat on the course that was sprinkled with goat head thorns. Going around corners I could see that the gap over Jake and Kyle was always growing or being maintained so I kept it smooth and didn’t risk much at the gnarly concrete barriers. After a slight downhill the course crossed these concrete paved walls that were about a foot and a half high and spaced by only four or five feet. It wasn’t so bad to run over them, but the dismount coming down the hill at them was a bit unnerving.
All was going well until 42 minutes in the 50 minute plus one lap race. I could tell that I was losing air in the front tire. Go figure, as I could see numerous thorns each time the tire rolled over. Finally with just two laps left to go it was flat and I had to run, but fortunately I was only a couple turns from the pit. Mel and Chloe found a wheel for me after a pretty quick change I was back in action and my gap over Jake was still intact. I made it in for the win after completing two final laps in approximately four minutes per lap. That was just fast enough as my replacement front wheel also was going flat and at a rate much faster than the previous.
The first ride on the bike and it lived up to its name: Cross Machine. With some refinements it’ll only get faster too, but the handling was spot on. The bike naturally carved the fastest lines out there. Here’s the current setup and check out the Garage for complete specs.
Keeping it Real, TJ
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Sweet ride dude! I have that same Cannondale stem… and btw I like the bontrager spec!
Glad I wasn’t the only one a little unnerved by the cement “barrier!” I think it was more the tight spacing between them than anything else. Oh well, it was a challenge and a great way to include some of the “features” of the area right? Did anyone not get a flat?