So, I'm getting pretty good at this whole cyclo-cross thing. I know that when I step up to the starting line, I have a great shot at winning or I expect to be in the top five. My friend Andrea, see Ironman posts, met me there at the race to watch. She had never seen a cyclo-cross race before and thought that it would be fun to see one up close.
The morning started rainy, misty and foggy, which could have made the race very interesting, but all the weather cleared to provide a cold, clear day. The sun came out once I arrived at the speedway, but the temperature didn't rise until the middle of the race. I started with nearly all the cold weather gear I had. My pre-ride gave me a sense of the many different parts of the course, stair climbs, on-bike climbs, steep downhills, off-camber turns, dirt, grass, tarmac, gravel...remind me if I forgot anything. Part of the course was on the dirt racetrack, and with the rains the day before, the dirt was extremely sticky and wedged between my wheels and frame. Mind you, I'm riding a standard road bike and road setup with knobby cyclo-cross tires, which leaves very little clearance. Mud doesn't do well with my bike. Fortunately, once we actually raced, the track had dried out and a hard-packed 'groove' developed on the inside of the track from warmups.
I lined up at the front of the pack and proceeded to freeze for the ten or fifteen minutes before the race started. I had a good start and was in the top five at we went towards the first turn and to the following barriers. At the barriers the very first rider dismounted and clipped his front tire on the first barrier and proceeded to vault and splay across the course. I was fortunately behind him a few spots and on the other side so I was able to avoid the entire crash. Through first lap I was able to make up a few places and put myself in second after the first lap. During the second lap, I focused on catching the first-place rider and passing him to get a win. In my zeal to get first, I crashed twice on off camber turns and nearly missed a turn, barreling into the tape surrounding the course. It was hard to make out the course because there was grass and leaves interspersed with tape marking the course, and I was more focused on being fast rather than following the course. Oops. I took the next laps much more cautiously. After crashing, I wasn't close to the first place rider, and ended up 30-45 seconds behind at the finish, and a small pack of riders remained at least 30 seconds the rest of the race. I was able to comfortably lock up second.
My race went pretty well. I'm happy with second, but I would have liked to have been a bit more cautious in some of the technical sections. I have to figure out how to be fast in all parts, not just fast sections. Sometimes going slow is the fastest way, always better than crashing.
Thanks to Andrea for coming and taking pictures. Sorry it took so long to post. Be ready for a flurry of posts...just like the weather outside.
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