Hop 'n' Hurl

Sunday was the Hop 'n' Hurl cyclocross race at Goldbar park. I was disappointed that the course on the technical guide was not the actual course as I enjoy the trail at the south end of the park. Instead, the course circled the lake and then headed to the north end of the park. The trip around the lake included a short section in sand which could be ridden if you stayed close to the lake where the sand was harder. There were two chicanes that offered some challenges. On one easy climb, the course had three very tight corners and, shortly after that, there was an off-camber chicane which had a high-speed approach. I tended to brake a little going into the last one because I thought my front tire might slip in the grass and send me sliding under the course markings.
The start offered few difficulties until a tight set of corners on the far side of the lake. The whole group was still fairly close together at this point so I almost had to stop while waiting for the bunch to feed through these corners. After that, I picked a few good spots to pick up a place or two but also gave up a few places as I settled into my race. I ended up riding alone and seeing very few people during my last three laps.
My lap times varied between 10:37 and 10:50. I completed all four laps for a total of 13.8 km and finished with a total time of 42:59. My average speed was 19.2 km/h with a maximum of 45.3 km/h. There was about 45 m of climbing on each lap. I didn't work as hard during this race compared to the previous day as I averaged only 162 bpm with a maximum of 178 bpm.
Recently, I've read about time trial pacing and not going out too hard. I followed this approach for my two cyclocross races this weekend and, while I've felt good throughout both races and finished with consistent lap times, it might be better to fight for position earlier in the lap. I'm not fighting for wins but I am losing quite a bit of time waiting for the pack to filter through some of the technical sections. Having someone to chase would also prevent me from falling asleep mid-race once I'm alone and have settled into my position.