I’ve had a cyclocross bike for a while now. I was shooting to do my first race last year but a motorcycle took me out. A year later, I’ve accomplished another cycling goal.
Cyclists in general like to suffer… seriously suffer. In fact, I think the more we suffer, the better we feel at the end of the ride. You with me? If so, you must try cyclocross.
The whistle start sends you off into a lactic burning sprint. Soon after, you feel your lungs pushing their way up your throat searching for more air. Your mouth is so dry from the dust storm created in the first turn, you push your tongue around your cheeks trying to find some relief. That’s about the first 60 seconds… then you settle in for 29 more minutes of an all out grind. Yep, just like I titled it, “gut-wrenching fun.” Man, did I have a blast. My fitness isn’t where it should be… but I was tired of messing around. I needed to experience my first cyclocross race. So what was I thinking just before the start?
I’m thinking, “I’m not really sure how much pain I’m about to put my body through.”
Out on the course, I named this potting soil hill…
Here’s the face I made each time I conquered potting soil hill…
Wait… here’s a closer look. I’m calling it my cyclocross growl…
Wait again… I believe my good pal and his friends are laughing after witnessing my cyclocross growl up potting soil hill.
Anyway… I felt I kept a pretty good pace tackling my first cyclocross course.
Thanks to my good friend and sopro cyclist, Brian Sain, I had some pretty good coaching on what to expect and how best to approach it. But you’re still wondering… if this was a race… how’d you do? Well, I finished 57th out of 63 cyclists. Sure I wanted to finish better but I’m not complaining. I rode without a crash, without a mechanical and with my pride… because I would have never finished if I hadn’t signed up.
So, what to do as I prepare for my next race? (Yes, I’m hooked and you will be too if you try it.) Time to crank up the training.
