I lined up for my first cross race of the season, and my first race since I cracked a rib or two a few weeks ago…(they have healed pretty good… sneezing is no longer something I fear, and I have no problem going full speed…they still ache when I start breathing to fast… but you can’t sit around forever)
Last year this course was a mud fest… even though it rained all night and all day…there was no way it could be as bad as last year…right!… well it was… On the plus side it wasn’t as cold as last year, and there was no snow.
After a test lap, I had to change my cassette, it had been working ok on the trainer, the middle gears would slip when cranking down, luckily I actually had some spare wheels and took it’s cassette…but now all I had was a 23… and with all this mud I might need something lighter to avoid bogging down at 50rpm.
The field size wasn’t huge… but there were still plenty die hards, and some even looked excited to get to ride around in the mud..
The start was crazy as normal…everyone going for the hole shot, I took it a bit easy…figuring that it might be best to stay back a bit, and avoid the crashes,, and then pick off as many riders as possible during the next few laps. The first part of my plan worked…the second part.passing…a bit harder…
After 3 laps my legs were getting tired, I really needed something smaller then the 23…going up though the trees, it was thick and sticky, but surprisingly all ridable. As long as you keep your momentum going you could ride 95% of the course, only the barriers and step muddy hill required dismounting.
I wasn’t overly excited with my performance, but I finished 14th I think, didn’t crash once (so my ribs are still ok) and considering this was my first cross race in a while…on a technical course, not too shabby..
I will miss next weeks cross race, since I will be in LA… but Evergreen the following week should be good.... lets hope for a less muddy day though.
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