Seattle Cyclocross #1 - Evergreen HS

What a super-fun course for the opening of the Seattle cross series. It was grassy, with lots of twists and turns, some sand, and a just-right run up. The weather was a decidedly un-cross-like sunny, in the low 70's. I managed to pre-ride the bulk of the course thrice, which definitely helped me during the actual race. I also discovered it was right next to a disc golf course I've played twice with my work team mates.

Before my race, though, Emy got to do a kids race:

Unlike me in my race, she lined up at the back

But, she still had a great time, and managed to pass a few. She was a bit weirded out by a girl who crashed in the first turn around the dirt running track (the venue for the kids race - no barriers this time), and took a while to get her gumption back. As long as she's having fun, we're happy!

My race went pretty well - I lined up in the 2nd row, as Jeff thought we were to go off at 1:10. Turns out it was actually the posted 1:20, so we sat and baked in the sun for twenty minutes before the race finally began. But, as Jeff said, "At least you're in the 2nd row."

I did manage to clip in right away and took off with a decent sprint, but I was a bit wary of the riders who wering all over the place on the dirt track (and a small crash I avoided) before we hit the grass. It was a short couple turns before the sandy run up, and I took the right hand side, where the ground was firmer. I regained about ten places on the run up, since it was that much better ground. The rest of the course was pretty straightforward, except for a sandy hard left that would be my nemesis for laps 3, 5 and 6 (last lap). I crashed on each of those laps in the sand, losing places each time. I regained all those places and more during the rest of the course, and by the last lap I was sitting in 32nd position.

My goal was to finish in the top 50%. But that sandy corner shot my goal. I dropped my chain and the nine riders I had worked so hard to pass earlier in the lap cruised by me as I got the chain back on.

I rolled in, a bit dejected, in 42nd place. There were 61 starters. I was pretty pissed, but it's hard to stay mad when Emy meets me with a smile at the finish, telling me I did a great job. My lap times were closer to the leaders, less than 40 seconds off per lap, but the laps were faster and shorter, so I still have a ways to go.

Here are a few pictures:

Early in the course. You can see the run-up in the background.
Yes, all those guys are in front of me...
However, I caught and passed everyone in the picture who is not running...
until I crashed, and they passed me

This side was definitely best...and the run-up
was nothing compared to one in the Rad Racing GP

a fun part of the course, shortly after the sand-pit corner

about to start another lap, just after the finish line, later in the race

My team mate Jeff, who took 2nd,
doing some nice synchronized dismounting with the eventual winner

I love this picture of the spot just before the barriers.
If you look closely, you'll see that only my front tire is touching the ground.
Both feet are airborne, as is the rear tire. I'm floating!

Poor Chip had yet another mechanical issue - this time a rolled rear tire.
But, he managed to get to the pit, swap wheels, and still passed me later in the race.

My family are the best super-fans!

I'm so purturbed by the chain coming off (3rd time this season, over the course of five events) that I just ordered up a single ring setup from Excel sports (Cyclocrossworld.com says they are out-of-stock).

I also discovered that I've been riding with too-narrow handlebars (no wonder breathing seems a bit tougher, and my back and neck are unhappy), so I ordered up some new bars as well.

No race for the next weekend for me, and it is a "rest week", so it should be a good time to tinker with the bike and get it set up for more racing.

Starcrossed and Rad Racing GP - Twice the Fun!

Before I had done a single cross race this season I signed up for this double race weekend. The two events are the "biggest" cyclocross races in the Seattle area for the season, and I didn't know any better how hard two cross races would be, much less even a single race!

Starcrossed 2008 - Saturday
Saturday was Starcrossed. The Cat 3's raced at 6 PM, which means we still have some daylight, versus the elite women's and men's events that followed. Bree and Emy dropped me off at 3 PM, so I could get in a couple of warm up laps on the course the see what it was like. It was not raining at this point, and was only slightly muddy - mostly just wet grass. This would change over the course of the warm up... I was running my Racing Ralph tires, and dropped them down to a very squishy 36 psi. I didn't bother to put spare wheels in the pit, since I figured a flat was both unlikely, and might actually be welcome.

I had registered first for the field, and so my "random" number worked out to bib #200, which meant a front row call-up. If I were a much better cross rider, I would have been super stoked at the chance for the "hole shot" (being the first rider off the start as we enter the dirt section), but I was mostly trying to figure out how I could go fast, but still not become a bottleneck. Oh, and it was raining, everyone was shivering, and teeth were chattering.

Look at me in the front row - only 81 more riders to go

I was so relieved when the gun went off. Within about 30 seconds, I was no longer aware of the cold and wet.

The mayhem at the beginning.
I am looking at a rider who just crashed, off screen to the left and trying to figure out how I can pass by.
I lost like 10 to 12 places in the next three seconds!

About halfway through the first lap, I was somewhere around the 50th position. It was not long before I was joined by my race companion for the next 45 minutes:

Sam, a.k.a. Sammy, the speedo guy and I had an ongoing battle for position the rest of the race

I maintained somewhere in the 50's-60's for the rest of the race. My only goal was to not get lapped. I figured having a goal of not crashing would prove fruitless. Amazingly, I only went down once in a downhill corner at slow speed. But, it whacked my left brake/shift lever so much that instead of pointing forward, it was pointing to the right. I had to pound it with my right fist (while riding on an off-camber mud section) to get it back to about 45 degrees from straight ahead. It stayed in this position for the rest of the race (like 30 more minutes), which made using the front brake somewhat awkward.

Here's some more shots during the race taken by Bree and other kind spectators:

Yeah, it was wet. Riders who tried to use the
track banking often slid right back down and crashed


Coming up to the log barrier run-up The rider in pink to the left is negotiating the turn where I would soon crash

The logs were kinda fun, actually

There was plenty of noise at the infield barriers

My teammate Chip is the first rider in the group of three -
he placed an awesome 7th! This was a pretty muddy turn, but I was amazed at how
well you could actually carve in the muck. I didn't get brave enough to really power
through the turns until the last lap, but now I know.

I passed my speedo friend with 1.5 laps to go, right before the barriers

Then Sam slipped on an off-camber section near corner four of the velodrome and I stomped past him. I held this positi just in front of him until about 50 meters to go when he took the last 180 degree corner much better than I did and slipped past me to beat me by 10 meters at the end. I think his cape gave him super-hero powers.

Bree and Emy found me after I hosed off my bike and myself, and got really freaking cold. They were also freezing, so I chanegd clothes and dropped them off at home to go back and watch the elite men race at 8 PM. Those guys had a torn up course, but at least it stopped raining for them. I had to extricate my contacts before I could drive back, along with a teaspoon full of sand and grit in my eyes. They were still bright red the next morning.

I managed to get 65th out of 83 starters. Thirteen riders dropped out, which actually is surprisingly low, given the conditions. One my my teammates, our president Travis, pulled his deraileur cable on the first lap, and had to chase from half a lap down after he got it repaired. He had the dubious honor of being the last recorded finisher.

After I got home, I started to wonder why I signed up to race the next day! I hoped that a night of sleep would provide some recovery. Bree and Emy were going to come along to watch, cheer, and so Emy could be in the kids cross race!

Rad Racing GP 2008 - Sunday
Amazingly, as we drove to Tacoma at 9 AM, the sky was overcast, with occasional glimpses of sun. And, when we arrived at Ft Steilacoom for the Rad Racing GP, we were all surprised to find the ground dry and the temps pleasant.

I pre-rode the course as soon as we got there, and didn't even add air to the tires, so they were probably below 36 psi. The course was super fun - fast, not super technical, with an eternal run-up (80 meters up a loose sand/rock hill), a section of stairs, and some barriers. Mostly it was wide open grass and sweping corners. On my pre-ride I realized I might actually be able to do well (for me) on this course. I pumped the tires back up to 36 psi and headed to the start line after a 20 min stint on the trainer to keep the legs fired up.

I again had an early registration position, which put me on the front, yet again. I was actually excited about it, though. Unfortunately, I didn't get my right foot in very quickly, and lost a lot of position in the starting sprint. But, for the rest of the race I was "with people" as opposed to being mostly on my own, or with one other rider.

Chip was again riding very well near the front,
but would have an untimely chain breakage on the last lap

About mid-way through the race, I started to move up from small group to small group.
Eventually I found my teammate Landon (who is much better on dirt),
and worked hard to stay nearby

With one lap to go. The rider just to my left is Andrew Yee,
one of the creators of Cyclocross Magazine,
a sponsor of the two races, and a fine magazine and online site.
Landon is just behind us in the next group, and would catch up during the lap.

I continued to push throughout the last lap, and managed a fine 33rd place out of 48. The placing wasn't spectacular, by any means, but still it was my best result in terms of how close I was to the leaders. On this kind of course, I think I am capable of a top 20 finish, with a bit more practice at the barriers and other "transitions".

Emy's First Cross Race!
Unfortunately, the kids race started 15 minutes after my race, so I saw none of it. But, right after my finish, Emy was bursting to tell me all about it. We rode the kids course for a couple of laps, while she replayed the event for me in detail.

I had told her earlier that I didn't think she would have any barriers, and that the course would be very short. Well, I was wrong on the first count - they had a barrier, and a little wrong on the second count - they had two laps of a short, twisty course in a nearby field:

The start of the 6-7 year olds.
Mostly girls.
Mostly streamers.
Mostly pink.
Emy is in the back: pink bike, streamers, black tires

Like Daddy, Emy eschewed the hole shot

On the first lap, she was mid-pack
(OK, there are a few ahead of her to the left)

Just after clearing the barrier on the first lap
One of the Rad Racing junior riders (left side, wearing red/black) was the "pacer"

You can see Emy's triumphant last lap in this video
Note the smooth dismount before the log and fast remount after
I'm such a proud Dad!

Emy smiles after winning her first cross race.
Emy wins a lot more races than I do.

We all agreed it was a great day for the family. I think even Bree was thinking cross might not be so bad after all, as long as the races are on days like Sunday.

Monday was a rest day - next race is on Sunday the 28th, the first race of the Seattle Cyclocross Series. It should be a good one for me again - flat, fast, grassy.

Copper Cross - Two Cross Races Under My Belt

While I still need lots of practice,
it is still so much fun to ride on the dirt again.
My last Mountain Bike race was in 1997.

I had a great time at Copper Cross on Sunday. The weather was a very un-cross-like 80-degrees, and South SeaTac Park was dry and dusty.

My goals this time were simple. Do better than last time (in terms of placing), and don't crash at all. I pre-rode the course three times, each time getting a better feel for it. There was significantly more single track riding than Labor Day Cyclocross, and the lap was quite a bit longer. It wasn't really much harder, but the length, the sand, and a couple more run-ups than the last race would take their toll. I have to accept that I really don't ride well on sand. I need to work on it, but there aren't a lot of nearby areas to practice. I'll have to hunt for some.

Anyway, the race was off, and I did my usual relaxed sprint since I knew I should NOT be the first person to the dirt. Really I do this out of kindness to the other riders, since I would definitely be a bottleneck on the singletrack. Of course, maybe that should be our team strategy - let a couple of my teammates go in front of me, and cover their wheels. When we hit the dirt, I can do my usual flailing around and almost crashing, slowing down the rest of the pack!

Thankfully, there are some great photos from the race (thanks, Joe Martin!), so you all can see me in a cross race. Here are all of them with captions:

Me and team mate Dave Stanton.
This was some of the last few minutes when I could see the leaders...

Did I say it was dusty? One of the sandy corners and then the next run-up

Heading up the run-up. Yes, I am smiling.
There was a guy with a dollar bill sticking out of his butt,
offering it to anyone who rode the hill.

Taking the first of the barriers in the infield.

rounding the corner not long after the barriers
I gotta learn to drop my inside foot so I can corner faster

This guy passed me on the last lap.
You can see how he made up some time on me (no fair - he's on a mountain bike)

pedal hard out of the turns

final lap, last 100 meters or so,
I am neck and neck with Matt Beers (fellow Cat 3 track racer)
who is riding a single-speed cross bike
(no shifting, so he's stuck with whatever he's got in front and back)

You can see he has the edge on me being inside on the turn, but...

My running speed helps me make up the distance
by the time we hit the first barrier of two

Unfortunately, there were two turns left, and he got the inside on both of them, just beating me at the line. It didn't really matter, since we weren't in the same race (he was in the singlespeed category, and I was in the Cat 3 men).

Total race length was 4 laps, and I averaged just under 12 minutes per lap. The winner, Jeff, from my team, averaged closer to 10:30 per lap! I'm sure glad to have such talented team mates from whom I can learn a ton. My team mates finished with 5 of the top 10 in the Cat 3 race, plus we had the top Women's Cat 4 (on a singlespeed!), top Men's Cat 4, and top Master's Cat 1/2 35+ year old.

I met my goals - I never crashed, despite many close calls in the sand, and I finished a significantly better 15th out of 25 racers.

My next race is Starcrossed, which has NO singletrack, and is all grass plus some pavement. I'd like to think the course will suit me better, but we'll see. At least it is on and around the Marymoor Velodrome, so I will be intimately familiar with the surroundings! Then, for some crazy reason, I will be doing the follow up race, the RAD Racing GP, the next day. It's going to be a fun and tough weekend!

Friday Night Racing at Marymoor (9-12-2008) - the Last Night of the Season

It was a lackluster evening for me. I was fighting off a cold Emy picked up, and while it wasn't hitting me full force, it was taking a bit of wind out of my sails. But, it was a fun last night of the season, with a fine gathering and free beer afterward. There was a memorial in corner 2 for the death of Ryan Triplett, the spouse of one of the regular, high-caliber women racers, Jen Triplett, who often races in my field. It was sobering. Ryan died while rock climbing, which is why the subject and fate are very near and dear to mine and Bree's hearts. Our climbing circles did not include Ryan, but his and ours certainly overlapped as I found out later.

Here's what I sent out to the team:
Tonight was a tough one. There was the memorial to Ryan Triplett in corner 2. There were a million pink tents surrounding the velodrome area, with bouncy 80's music for a cancer awareness festival/walk-a-thon. And there were just five of us Cucina riders between the 1,2's, 3's and women's 1,2,3's. My report will also be a bit short so I can get to bed.

In the 1,2's, Chris and Mark were laying it all down. Chris had a fire under him this evening, and was racing with great intensity all night. Mark nicknamed him the Hulk, and I am thinking it will stick. Don't make Chris angry, folks - oh wait, please do, because then he rides even faster! Chris also provided some quality entertainment by trying to take the 2-lap heat from the front when my enormous push ended up sitting him about 8 bike lengths out. He drove it hard, and was just caught with about 250 to go. But it was fun!

In the final 1,2's scratch race, Chris made the front group of his predicted field split, and Mark bridged, but claimed a mental block such that he retreated back to the second group. Confidence, my friend - you belonged up there! Chris was super-animated, and found Kenny's wheel late in the game, with a nice final placing in 7th.

In the 3's, we had Niels, Jerry and me. Our first race was a 10 lap point a lap, which was gung ho from the get go. I was waiting for the final lap, since the points go three deep, and I was not feeling super spry. Niels took a lap in the middle of the race, and Jerry and I both managed to place in the final sprint, with Jerry scoring 2nd and me in 3rd, which put Jerry in 3rd for the race (money for Jerry!) and me in 5th.

Next race was 2-lap heats, and while the three of us gave it our all, I think it is fair to say it is not our favorite event. Unfortunately, Broadmark got two guys in the final, and we were getting nervous for the team placing.

Final race was a 20 lap scratch race. Niels got in an early break, which was later reeled in by a flying pack. There were several break attempt throughout the race - I tried to be part of a couple, but nothing would stick. I missed out a sprint for a prime, just nipped at the line, and then with three laps to go I found my break. A small group was chasing Craig Etheridge (of single-speed cross fame), and I hopped on. But, for some nutty reason, the group sat up with one to go, which left me, and Niels on my wheel, trapped in the sprinters lane. Luckily Jerry managed to be part of the sprint - he thought maybe he got 6th.

Combine this with Broadmark winning the women's omnium, and I am sad to report that our run at the top is likely over. We'll be a close second, which is still an amazing result for our growing track squad, and one we should all be proud of. Congratulations to all of us - we've made it a wonderful and fun track season. I get comments about how "Those Cucina Fresca riders all look like they're having more fun than the rest", and I think that's true.

That's all for this season. Looking forward to next year!

Turns out we actually ended up in a close third, not second, which is still an awesome result for a team that until this year barely fielded three riders at the track with any regularity. We've got plans to grow the track team even more and put us in the top tier of track clubs in the NW. Now that many of us have upgraded, we need to start building from the base (Cat 4 Men and Women) to keep the pyramid strong.

I am now the Cucina Fresca team's representative to the Marymoor Velodrome Association board, which should be very interesting. I hope I can learn a lot and contribute.

Rollers aren't so hard

My friend and team mate, Mark, let me try out his rollers. I received plenty of advice on how to get started:

1. use a really easy gear (I was running a 49x16, or about 83 gear inches)
2. put yourself in a door jam so you can bounce from side to side, using the walls
3. look ahead not down
4. start by using a bench to step on
5. don't panic

So, here I am getting on

Here I am getting rolling

Proof that I am not just leaning against the wall

Can you tell I am having fun?

OK, now I need to get us a set of rollers. It wasn't too difficult to learn, except for the first 3 minutes or so when I thought I was going to kill myself. I put in a total of 8 minutes at a steady tempo, once I got rolling, which wasn't much time, but I could see that it wasn't going to be too hard after a little more practice. It is definitely a more interesting way to ride indoors than on a fixed trainer that holds the rear wheel.

Some helpful things I noticed:

1. don't be too close to the wall - you end up bouncing off of it too much, since your elbows stick out past your handlebars
2. start with one pedal down so that the first clip doesn't send you off the side
3. look at a spot about a meter in front of the wheel and steer ever so slightly to keep it in the same spot
4. don't panic!

Thanks, Mark! I feel like more of a trackie now.

Friday Night Racing at Marymoor

Emy had her last Kiddie Kilo of the season, and was looking primed to be fast, with full cupcake team regalia. She started 2nd from the back of her field of seven 6-to-7 year olds, and jumped hard right from the word go! By turn one she was in 2nd place, and by the back stretch she was out front, and extended her lead all the way to the end. When she crossed the finish, the next closest rider, her recent-friend Annika (daughter of Ed Amdahl of Starbucks) had not yet entered turn four, for a clear victory, with Annika taking an awesome 2nd. Bree and I were super happy for our little Bean, since she was pretty disappointed in her Pee Wee graduation race. Hopefully there will be a new picture on WheelsInFocus soon.

I was a little worried about my night as I had done Madison training both Tuesday and Thursday nights, and it was quite the workout. But, without further ado...


Here's what I emailed the team for my race report:

We had another fabulous night of racing by the left-turning tomatoes!

Our Cat 3 squad was represented by Jerry, John, Niels, Ted and Travis, with Chris and Mark in the Cat 1,2's. Mark was looking at a heck of a night for his first foray into the 1,2's field including a Miss n' Out, and a Madison! More on that later.

First up for the 3's was a 10-lap snowball, which historically has been a good one for Cucina. Tonight was no exception. Travis got off in a break, solo, scoring some points, later joined by others, and then absorbed. But with a good stack of points, he just needed the 9 point and 10 point laps to go to riders who weren't a threat to him. Niels rose to the challenge and took the 9 point lap in a tight sprint, with the 10 point lap going to Simpson of Recycled. This gave Travis the big money for the first race of the night and also put Niels in 3rd place.

Next up was the 1,2's 12-lap scratch. With two prime laps splitting the field, it was awesome to see both Chris and Mark working together int he chase group trying to close the gap to the break late in the race. I'm sure Chris is happy to have company.

Next race for the 3's was a Miss n' Out, pulling down to 3 riders remaining. I had some demons to exorcise after last week, where I was the the crazy guy who surged from the back lap after lap. This time I worked hard to not be so close to the back, and for the most part it worked. I think Jerry was the first to get yanked, followed by John, surprisingly next was Travis, then Niels. I had found my wheel behind Selinski, who was sitting at the front, high on the track, which made the surge a relatively easy move from the 2nd row to the front each time. We were whittled down to four riders, and then I was just able to commit to one more surge to make the final three. We cruised our free lap, and I was happy they let me sit on the back. My plan was to sit on Vinson, knowing Selinski was tired from all his time at the front, and it worked, but I missed the win by a tire in the sprint (gotta learn to throw the bike). Still it felt good to be on the board. So now we had Travis with a 1st, me with a 2nd, and Niels with a 3rd.

The 1,2's had a Miss n' Out as well, with a fairly large field. I was just hoping our man Mark would make us proud and get past the first lap, which he did easily, getting pulled (just barely) as the 4th rider out. Chris was out next, looking plenty knackered - poor guy is feeling the pain of being a new teacher, with early rising, and didn't have much left in the tank. I hope you got home and went to sleep, Chris! At least Mark got plenty of rest before the Madison (good plan, Mark!)

Last race for the 3's was a 6x5 points race, which got shortened to a 5x5. With Travis, Niels and I sitting well for omnium, the plan was to take it all with a break that would hopefully include the three of us, and maybe one more rider. John and Jerry were to go for the first sprint to help keep it hot. We wanted to pull the same trick that Jason and I tried last week - take it easy for the first sprint, and then hit em right after the sprint - this time with a break of at least three. I managed to find Niels's wheel at the right moment, but the field was still moving pretty quickly after the first sprint, and Travis was still down low in the pack. Still, I moved up and went hard, hoping we could still salvage the plan at least in part. I only got away for a short bit, with a couple others, and then we were absorbed, and then Travis went hard with Vinson. The pack started sitting up, and Niels was near the front, so I bridged and the three of us came in for the next sprint - I got 2 points, and I think Vinson just beat Travis (but I'm not sure). Later, there were other loose break attempts, but nothing really stuck. I tried again to get a break going, but didn't get anywhere (other than airtime by Bilko). Selinski got a couple of points in some other sprints, and at this point I heard the points were really spread out - Bilko said TEN riders had points with one sprint to go. I was not terribly surprised as we were going at a fast clip the whole time. I was sure happy when Hyun took a flyer with 3 laps to go and I was able to jump on his wheel. I looked back and we had a solid gap, so I just sat on for 300 meters and he never pulled up track. With 1.5 laps to go, when I saw he was tiring, I went as hard as I could around him, hoping I could survive to the finish, or at least give Travis or Niels an armchair ride on someone else's wheel as they tried to chase. I was pretty cross-eyed by the end, but just managed to hold off the pack and win the last sprint.

Last race of the night was the 6x8 Madison, which, for those who haven't seen it, is the pinnacle of track racing. It's a points race, where each rider tag-teams with one other rider, making exchanges on every lap - one rider is "in the race", going full gas, while the other is "on relief" resting and riding high on the track, as slowly as possible until the "in the race" rider gets back around to them, where they tag off. This tag is typically a sling-throw that requires skill, bike handling, and timing. Mark teamed up with Jim (?) Flinn of Old Town and unfortunately had to take off the tomato (if only Jason could have made it tonight for his 2's debut). Holy moly that race was fast. It took Mark and Jim a couple of exchanges to get some kinks worked out, but they were solidly in 5th or 6th, trading leads with a Broadmark team. While they were out of the points sprints, they still kept it rolling and gave it their all to try and bridge the gap. As the race wore on, there were some seriously tired faces out there. Mark was looking pretty wasted, but we were sure proud to see him out there in this tricky event, looking like he belonged. Mark, I KNOW you'll sleep well tonight! Nice job.

Final results for the 3's put me in 3rd for omnium with two 2nd places (somehow Selinski had one more point that I did in the 5x5) and Travis in 4th. Hopefully that will yield enough points for us to close the gap to 1st place Broadmark in the team rankings, but if not, we should be within a point or two with two more nights of racing remaining. Between Mark, Jerry, John, Rebecca and maybe Travis on Wednesday in the Master's and Women's fields, and the Friday gang of 3's and 1,2's, I think we can do it!

Mama Bug Scores a Point!

Bree raced the track on Wednesday, her second big race night in the Cat 4 women's field and came away with a night of serious improvement, with an even tougher field than her first Wednesday. She gradually improved from 8th in the first race, t0 7th in the second race, and then 6th in the final race with a serious, grit-her-teeth sprint, which netted her very first point for the season. She's now tied for 26th place!

Way to go, Bug. Emy and I are so proud of you.

Labor Day Cyclocross! No pain no gain?

The race was a ton of fun. I had a great time. The course consisted of a loop of ~50% singletrack in the woods, a steep run-up (that was rideable - I managed it twice, but other times got stymied by riders walking it or falling over), a barrier section after a short off camber turn, some paved sections, a 30 meter long sandpit (my first time on sand) and a forced short run-up. It was all pretty much dry.

I had two goals - to not get lapped and to not be last. I accomplished both goals! I was 22nd out of 24 (and the two guys I beat are both racers at the velodrome that I know), and I was not in danger of getting lapped. Partly that was owing to the long course. Each lap was on the order of nine minutes, and my finish was about five minutes slower than the winner. We did four laps. I was within sight of the top 20 placings on every lap until the last lap. Why? Well, I had a colossal crash on the last lap. There was a hard right turn over a little bump with a deep sandy pothole on the other side of the bump. So, since it was the last lap, I tried to take it a bit quicker than the previous three laps. After going over the bump, you had to either choose the left side of the pothole, where you had a narrow strip of loose dirt, or the right side of the pothole, where you had a bunch of tree roots. On the first three laps, I went left and stayed outside the pothole. But on the last lap, at higher speed, I overcompensated my turn and actually ended up running right into the pothole. I flipped over the handlebars and face planted in the sand/dirt. I came up sputtering sand and had to spit out a full mouthful as well as remove my helmet and shake out my ears. It took a while, maybe about a minute, to clear the sand enough to keep riding, and to get back on the bike and make sure every thing was working (me and the bike). Then it took a little while to get back up to speed. I was very happy to see my team mate Jason smiling at the finish line about five minutes later.

I wish I had a photo of me at the finish since I must have been quite a mess. My head was caked with sand and sweat, and my right ear was still a bit full, along with a sore lower lip (my mouth was open when I face planted into the sand). When I got back to the team tent, Jason offered to spray me off with a water bottle, which helped (and pointed out just how much sand was caked on me).

I was happy to see that while my lap time was slow compared to the winner (and my teammates who got 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and two in the teens, before my placing) by almost a minute a lap, my lap time would have gotten me top 10 in the cat 4's. So, I didn't feel like the decision to stick with my road category and race cat 3's in cross was incorrect. Sure, it would be more fun to be in contention, but I would rather claw my way up in the 3's.

My left side ribs are a bit bruised, my left knee is sore, I have a gash on my right lower back, the lip feels a bit swollen (man, my mouth has taken a beating this season), and my neck is a bit stiff, but nothing's too bad :-) I'm glad I don't have another race today! It seems my old mountain biking skills are quite a bit rusty. The rest of the race was solid - I had no trouble with barriers, dismounting/remounting, rode the sand pit twice out of four attempts, and cruised the run-ups when the hills were too steep. So, my "cross" skills were fine, but my dirt skills need improvement.

But like I said, it was fun! The next cross race on my schedule is at the same venue, although the course will be different. My goals are to not crash, and to ride more smoothly. Plus, I might try to use my sprint to get a better position off the starting line - I took it easy this first race, knowing I would be a bottleneck at the first dirt section. I'd like to be within a minute per lap of the winning time too rather than just outside it.

Tonight is track training and madison practice. Hopefully I am able. Bree races tomorrow, if she's up for it.