So, umm, erhm... I raced a cross bike on Saturday night at the Heartland Park cx race in Topeka.
This was to be the 4th bike ride for me (outside of the 1/2 mile jaunt to campus) since Rapture took place in August. It was also my first cat 4 race since I was a wee 14 year old lad. Two days before this race I dressed out both cross bikes in full race gear and took them for a spin to practice some cross action.
So let's sum it all up real quick: no training + no cx bike comfort time + practicing my first dismount in over 10 mths the days before the race = excellence!
I rode through a 30 minute hellstorm of a race like a pot-bellied 50 year old cat 4 racer (or a bull in a china shop, take your pick.) Things sure are different in the cat 4 races than I remember.
My first thought of the race was "Why is nobody going? This isn't how races start!" So I went hard from the back row and ended up just kinda sitting in the top 5. Sucking wheel and blowing through dirt. Until we had to turn... It was at the moment that I crashed through the tape for the first time that I remembered why bike handling skills were so important for cross racing.
From then on I just spent my time drilling the pace on the flats and climbs, running past everyone on the barriers and through the corners. Oh yeah, and in between all of that I plowed through the tape a few times, drifted sideways more than a fast & furious remake and dabbed enough to make the most beginner mt. bike racer feel like an ace. Lesson learned.
This was to be the 4th bike ride for me (outside of the 1/2 mile jaunt to campus) since Rapture took place in August. It was also my first cat 4 race since I was a wee 14 year old lad. Two days before this race I dressed out both cross bikes in full race gear and took them for a spin to practice some cross action.
So let's sum it all up real quick: no training + no cx bike comfort time + practicing my first dismount in over 10 mths the days before the race = excellence!
I rode through a 30 minute hellstorm of a race like a pot-bellied 50 year old cat 4 racer (or a bull in a china shop, take your pick.) Things sure are different in the cat 4 races than I remember.
My first thought of the race was "Why is nobody going? This isn't how races start!" So I went hard from the back row and ended up just kinda sitting in the top 5. Sucking wheel and blowing through dirt. Until we had to turn... It was at the moment that I crashed through the tape for the first time that I remembered why bike handling skills were so important for cross racing.
From then on I just spent my time drilling the pace on the flats and climbs, running past everyone on the barriers and through the corners. Oh yeah, and in between all of that I plowed through the tape a few times, drifted sideways more than a fast & furious remake and dabbed enough to make the most beginner mt. bike racer feel like an ace. Lesson learned.
So here's to cross season, I let this surly woman slip through my fingers farther this year than I have for a long, long time. But rest assured she devil bike race, I will be back (sometime in the distant future).
