I just have to say that cyclocross is awesome! It hurt, my legs burned, my lungs burned, it hurt more, it was dirty, wet, and cold, but it was a good time! You can see it in my tired smile below (yes that is sand/dirt/mud in my teeth - you have click to see the large image to get the full dirt effect). I'm fully hooked and will likely race every Saturday through the rest of the season. I do need to get out and ride more. Running endurance is a far cry from cycling endurance. My quads are killing me.
To my delight we woke up to rain this morning and it continued to rain. Everyone I have spoken to about cross says it's better and more fun when it's wet and muddy. With the rain it made it a little bit cool but I didn't notice during the race.
The course was fun. From the start there was long, moderate uphill pavement section which turned into a dirt section for 100 yards or so. From the dirt we encountered a short uphill back to parking lot, which we darted through, down a small pavement hill, back through the dirt section and onto a slightly off-camber singletrack, which turned onto a wider gravel/sand section, to more single-track through some small bushes, over a wood bridge, to the one run-up and barriers (there were only two barriers), then a long quick ride down more singletrack with turned back onto the start. Just before we reached the start again there's a fairly steep downhill, onto wet grass and a sharp turn.
Jessica, Penelope, and my brother Christopher were there to cheer to me on. Jessica was awesome with the camera and got four short video clips. I'm the one in the black shorts, blue shirt, and white sleeves.
3 comments:
You left out the best part..."I thought my butt was hanging out..." hahahahaha
You are right, I completely left it out. Here it is for anyone who reads comments.
It was the first time I have worn lycra bike shorts. They have a chamois butt pad for comfort and wicking. I got on the bike right by the car. Right after I got on a small breeze blew by. The pad blocked the wind while it went through the upper portion of the rear of the shorts. To me it felt like my shorts were part way down and my butt was showing. I had pedaled once and stopped to check my shorts. Well I hadn't realized that I had clipped into my right pedal and I tipped over...in the parking lot, right in front of the car, and in front of a few people who got a good laugh. I unclipped, picked myself and the bike up and checked my shorts. Yeah, they were pulled up.
Yup, it was embarrassing, but I didn't let it phase me.
Wow! Way to go Eric!
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