CYCLO-CROSS RACE !!!

IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL !!!

Background info: The first time someone showed me different types of dismounts and mounts for cyclo-cross was yesterday. The first time I ever rode a cross bike was also in fact, yesterday. The first time I tried a barrier was in the neutral lap. TODAY was my first cross race !!!

Picture this: black jersey, black knickers, blue shimano mtb shoes, orange and brown striped knee high socks, solid pink frame bike (no logos). J told me that letting the rest of the field start off early might not be a bad idea since those tended to be hairy, so I ended up passing most people on the first few straightaways. I passed even more people on the tight corners: where most people braked hard, I leaned hard and begged my tires not to lose traction. I got 7th place!!! (Well, technically 6th, but we won't go into that now.)

I crashed going into this one barrier, but it didn't really hurt so much as piss me off. My thought process was simple: person behind catching up. I bounced back fast enough ... there was another barrier that 3 women crossed at the same time, and then we were vying for place right after into a downhill corner turn. Hairy, but turned out alright. At another point, a guy yelled out: "Keep it up, Liz!" And I screamed back, "I'm Sophia!" (There's another girl on Tati who's Korean. We do look similar, especially when we wear sunglasses, so I don't blame the guy.)

It was a fun race to watch. There was this one xXx guy in the men's 3's that raced on a fixed gear! His foot would actually keep moving around the pedal as he came up to the barrier (normally people coast), but he managed to do it very smoothly. In the men's 4's, Brian won his first cross race with a huge gap on the field! I'd like to add that about 20 minutes before the race he asked everyone, hey, so how do I dismount? (He's insanely strong though. He used to be ranked 3rd in his age group for triathlons.) Jeff stuck it out, and Adam hung on and managed to pass a few people in the last sprint. Eric's saddle fell off during the race! but he managed to get back in.

There was a mechanical in the Master's race too: Patrick walked up to us holding his crank arm ...

Cyclo-cross is interestingly more similar to cross country races in that drafting isn't as big of a factor, nor are pack riding tactics. In that respect, I like it a lot, because it's mainly your skill and strength that matter, as opposed to race strategy.

One thing not so great was how hot it was. Around one curve, I yell out, "WATER!!!" to J, so we had some water hand offs. (Thanks, Bernard.) I think I still might have been a bit dehydrated though. Oh well. We didn't have bottle cages because it makes it harder to carry the bikes over the barriers.

GOOD TIMES!