TWW Cross Dressin' It!!! (10/5)

Okay, so decided late last night to give this cross thing a go with Schlachter up in Vacaville. Brought back old memories of the Rockhopper days (but thankfully sans monster hill climbs). The venue was dry, dry, dry - the recent rains didn't do a whole lot to the course. No mud pits and actually it was quite warm in the sun (mid to upper 70's).

I have never raced a real cross race before - I did the costume cross but one can very easily argue if that is a true race. So this was it - my maiden voyage into the cross scene. And you know me - moderation is for the weak - I can't start by doing a C race. Because of the start time and the fact that Schlachter was racing the 35+ B's, I decided I would do the same. Probably not the smartest move but I've been known to make questionable decisions before.

Of course, we're a little stressed out due to the Schlachter Factor, and we arrive about 20 minutes before the race time. Still need to get registered, take a leak, change, pre-ride, etc. We got it all done, and then a couple of minutes later we're getting instructions at the start line. They started the 35+, 45+, and 55+ B's together. Quite a big crowd. Great, more pack riding, but this time on dirt and me on a bike that I have never competitively ridden nor have I even ridden since last year's costume cross.
I figured I would utilize this as a learning experience not having done this before. Just pace myself, get the feel for it, etc. So I didn't go out hard at all and just hung back a little. I passed a few people, but mostly people were passing me. I must say, my cornering on that bike is really sketchy (the 75psi in my tires probably didn't help - hey, I didn't want to pinch flat). My dismounts and re-mounts were actually pretty good, with only one exception where I nearly ate it since I couldn't get my left foot out of the pedal. But I saved it. Fortunately the two dismount sections were at slow spots of the race, so I didn't have to dismount at high speed. I got in some good bunny hop practice on that bike but I'm sure I won't be taking on any of the 15" or 18" barriers.

Oh I forgot to mention I felt this sharp pain on my abdomen on the first lap - felt like a pin pricked me. I thought maybe one of my number pins came undone and poked me. But turns out it was one of those damn meat bees that got stuck in my jersey and got me. Great, thankfully I'm not allergic. So rest of the race was in a zipped up jersey with a tingling bite.

During the 7 laps I would see Scott in front of me and was able to note him increasing his lead on me every lap. But that was cool, I knew he would be ahead of me at this race since he has raced CX more than me plus is in better shape than me (but not my much just give me a little more time buddy). Finally near the end our paths crossed and I cheered him on. He would end up finishing a couple of minutes ahead of me - don't know the exact time since they didn't have a timer going oddly enough.

So overall I'm moderately pleased with my performance considering all the factors conspiring against me - I didn't finish DFL (23rd out of 27, Scott was 17th out of 27). After the race I felt that I left a lot in reserve - I felt more like I did a moderately hard ride vs. a race. Definitely will go out harder in my next one - which btw will be a C race - in Livermore on 10/11 if anyone is interested in joining me. I'd like to get some decent results before I make the permanent jump up to the 35+ B's.

Mike

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