Cyclocross Saturday #4

This weeks race was at the Fort Buenaventura State Park up in Ogden. The morning air was very chilly. Usually the sun is up, warming the air, but there were so many trees that it stayed cool.

The course was pretty good, but not as fun as past weeks. There was a small criss-crossing grass section, one steep, sandy run/ride up, one set of barriers, and a whole lot of flat riding. A lot of the flat was on packed dirt or pavement. As a result it was a very fast race without a lot of technical riding.

I started out fast, towards the front (in the video below you'll see me at the start, closest to the camera in the blue shirt and white sleeves). I started out just a little too fast but was able to keep pace most all of the race. I did falter on the sandy hill. Close to rounding the top the sand became 3-4 inches deep. If you didn't carry speed you'd stop and have to unclip. The first time up I got stuck behind someone who had to unclip, the second and third times I lost my momentum and had to unclip, fourth time I got stuck behind a person who I lapping and had to run up, and the last time I made it up and over.

I think I finished fifth again (you'll see the anti-climactic finish). My falters on the hill put my behind the leaders so I had to play catch-up. Apparently I rode a lot harder than I have past races because as soon as I finished my quads started killing me. It hurts to walk. One really fun thing about the race is back in the woods there was a log you could either ride over or hop and I hopped it every time (I learned to bunny hop this week). I still love cyclocross.