Castle Cross

I don't normally cut to the chase on my blog, but I'll make an exception today:
I won today. I f'ing won. (Read on if you need more detail than that)


It was a nice sunny day in Castle Rock, but the snow that hit that area earlier in the week made for some nice muddy conditions. I rode the muddy sections several times during my warmup to try and find a good line and I decided that my best strategy was to try to not be behind people on that first lap mayhem through the mud. Easier said than done.

I generally have sucked at starts, so I actually spent some time practicing that this week. I decided, if nothing else, I would get a good start. The starting area of this race was about a 30 yard straight and then a 90 degree turn. Getting to that corner first and not getting pinched against the curb was going to be key. When the whistle blew, I was off with a shot. I had enough room that I was able to cut the inside of the corner. I couldn't believe it. We got to the dirt and I literally said out loud "Holy shit, I just took the hole shot."

I stayed on the gas as we entered the first muddy sections and was able to pick the lines I wanted. So nice to be up front instead of dealing with the crowd in the back. When I finally looked back, I saw that there were only 2 other people up with me. I thought I'd have to battle a bit to stay up front, but that wasn't the case. They weren't gaining on me.

On the second lap, I had a 5 or 10 second gap when I bobbled in a muddy corner. I came off the bike and had to remount and I thought for sure I was about to lose my lead. Thankfully, I stayed in front and still maintained a gap.

It's weird being in front. I'm so used to following someone's wheel and not thinking much about the upcoming terrain. This time, it was up to me to know what was ahead and how fast I wanted to ride it. It was great to be able to take my own lines through corner and not be regulated by someone in front of me.

Midway through the second lap I noticed that the 3rd guy had drifted back. Nice. One less person to worry about. The second guy was still fairly close. Through some grassy switchbacks, I could keep my eye on how close he was. I sometimes wasn't paying as much attention to the course as I should have and I took some corners hotter than I meant to.

Now's a good time to mention that this was my first race on tubular tires. Having very little time on these new tires made me a little nervous. They don't have as much cornering grip as my other wheels, but they saved me in some of those hot corners. I don't know if my tubeless clinchers would have stayed on the rim.

With 3 laps to go, I saw that the 2nd place guy was moving backwards fast. I couldn't believe it. He cracked, and the door was open for me to win. All I had to do was not screw up. So that's what I did. I took some screwy lines here and there, but I maintained a gap and won by at least 30 seconds. My first cyclocross win! So excited. Christine and I are celebrating in true Belgie style with an awesome beer that we brought back from Belgium last year: 3 Fonteinen Oude Kriek. Damn, it tastes good. And so does a victory.