Green Mountain Cyclocross
Saturday morning, Christine and I headed down to Littleton to catch the beginning of her little brother’s soccer game. I bailed early to make it to my race and Christine came with her family after the game was over. The weather was hot and dry and the course was fun but bumpy. Since the bigger race of the weekend was Sunday, my plan today was to race hard for the first half, and then take it easy. That’s exactly what I did. After a few laps, I dialed it way down. Surprisingly, even when I took it easy, I didn’t lose any positions. I think I finished 29th.
We spent the night down in Golden with Christine’s family and were treated to a great dinner and breakfast. And Nerf gun battles.
Sunday looked like it was starting out to be a beautiful day. The weather was crisp and sunny and I was looking forward to racing in Breckenridge. We got up to the race, registered early and walked part of the race course. Just about the time I was going to start warming up, rain drops started falling. And they kept falling. By the time I started taking “warm-up” laps, it was pouring and 40 degrees. I was soaked and freezing. Thankfully, a friend of mine that was there had some gear I could borrow, because I was woefully unprepared for super cold weather.
Once the race started and I really got going, I stopped shivering a bit. The course was a muddy mess, but it was fun to ride. I’ve always been a fair-weather ‘crosser, and this was easily the most inclement weather I’ve raced in.
I got an okay, but not a great start. Save for a few locations, there’s a lot of room to pass on this course so a poor start wasn’t a game ender. I’m still not a great bike handler, but I can take comfort in knowing that I’m better than several people I was riding behind. I was able to make up time by taking better, more efficient lines. I had some trouble getting back into my pedals after the remounts. Partially due to lack of practice and partially due to muddy cleats.
As the race wore on, my fingers and toes got colder and colder. It was getting tough to shift and brake because I could hardly feel the levers, but thankfully the end was in sight. As I came up to the final 100 meters, I was able to pass one more person in the final corner and take 7th place. My best finish yet at a cyclocross race I think. As an added bonus, I scored points in our local points series. I don’t much care about the series as a competition, but having those points will give me a “call-up” to the start line in future races. That means I won’t get stuck in the very back of the starting grid.
It was so nice to have my number one teammate, Christine, there at the race. She cheered, rang cowbells, and handed me my water when I needed it. More importantly, she helped get me into warm clothing after the race. She sorted through my crap and helped me stuff muddy clothes in bags so I could go sit in the car with the engine running and seat heaters on full blast. Last week, I bought a battery pack for her heated motorcycle jacket and it worked beautifully. She was cozy and warm while others were freezing.
My muddy bike after the race
A little mud on the face
Will my kit ever look the same?
Good job Christine SAG team!
ReplyDelete