The highlight of my day was getting a hand up of maple syrup in an ice shot glass from a guy in an Alf costume.
In true fashion, my relationship with cyclocross is love/hate. I’d opined about my desire to keep it in its place and not get too sucked into it, so that’s what I’m trying to do. At this point it really seems like the biggest change has been my expectations.
This kind of thing isn’t my thing, so to speak, so it’s going to take some time to adjust. And I can collect as much data as possible to try to learn from it I can enjoy that it’s keeping me active, outside, and motivated as the days get shorter.
Going into this race I really just wanted to ride steady and finish with a rough goal of finishing in the middle of the field. With only two categories it was Beginner and Expert, and I have to say I was little disappointed to see a guy with a jersey and a cyclocross bike running away with the beginner’s race. Off the start I opted to only quickly punch it then settle into the effort rather than burn a ton of matches and snap as I tend to do lately. Within the first minute I was tucked into the field in about the same spot where I’d spend almost the whole race.
And there was this. First time through I got completely spun out and disoriented, but on successive trips through I figured it out. On lap 1 some asshat dismounted and pushed his way through, which you can see on the video. I never was able to catch him again.
There were some extended singletrack sections and several forced dismounts per lap which made for a very intense circuit with very little room for recovery. It was probably better for me that way as I tend to suck where it’s all open pedaling anyway.
All in it was a solid day and a great low-key, local event. Even though it was barely 40 degrees and rained for a time I don’t think I saw anyone complain.
I’ll be back next year.