So you're all probably wondering what you should do this time of year with all
the fitness you've built up road racing this season...so why not 'cross???

I raced the Livermore Cyclocross series a few times last year and had a
blast...a little painful though as I didn't have a road season under my belt.
Today was a little more pleasant as I finally had a full racing/ training season
under my belt. Seeing that I raced 'cross last year in the C's, I thought I
would "upgrade" myself and do the Men's 35+B race. A little longer at 45
minutes, but what the hell, its about the same time as a crit, right?? So I
line up with all the other Men's B's, but notice right before the open B's
started, that they gave me the wrong number. "Oh well" I said..."its
cyclocross...I'll deal with it later..." So I start enmass with all the other 35
and 45+ B's, about 30 seconds behind the open B's. Didn't get the holeshot, but
oh well. About 10th into the first turn. A little dicey through the loose bark
and sand on the back stretch, but I managed to stay upright...then on to the
grassy section with alot of turns. The good thing about racing in the B's race
is that you have the advantage of racing on a course where the grass has now
been packed down by the earlier races...much easier to ride on with less drag
from the flattened grass! Then up to the first dismount section for the wood
barriers. Fun stuff for most of the laps, except on one occassion where I
"missed" the right handlebar and almost went down (that's what lack of oxygen to
the brain does I guess). Next comes the drag race to the back section and more
loose stuff and lots of turns and another dismount and run section. Again, I
managed the dismount sections okay, and didn't experience any misplacing of
hands here. Uneventful on this back stretch except on the last lap, where the
guy in front of me that I was leaving up there for a while went down in a turn
where there was loose stuff. I managed to avoid running him over, then nailed
it knowing it would take him some time to recover and regain his composure. I
did manage to catch him yell at me to "keep it going!" as I kept riding. Now
would you ever experience that kind of positive vibe during the road season from
someone that just crashed?? The finish was uneventful as I crossed the line
with no one around me. I chatted with the guy who crashed and asked if he was
okay. I thanked him for his words of encouragement after his crash and asked if
he was okay. I proceeded to cool down and rode back to the registration table
and told them of my misnumbering. Not really caring how I finished I rode back
to the car to change. I came back to the results table and was pleasantly
surprised that I managed a 3rd place finish in my age group!

So after reading all that, you are probably wondering "whats the point?" After
each race I do, I try and reflect on what I learned during the pain session.
Today was no exception. Here's what I thought I'd share:
1. If you are going stir crazy now that its the off-season for road trying not
to ride your road bike, you should try cyclocross.
2. Its a heck of alot easier to suffer in cyclocross if you have a road season
under your belt.
3. Always ride hard in a race, you'll never know how you'll finish!!
4. Cyclocross does really have that cool vibe that everyone talks about!!

Now back to pizza, beer, and college football...its the off-season, right?!

 

Myron