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.