Cross Season! New England Velo-Cross Challenge

The skies Saturday morning were clear, the conditions perfect. It was then that I decided to start the second season, or cyclocross. I arrived at the track, and took a couple of warm-up laps. Over the summer, I reaquainted myself with mountain biking to hopefully improve my cross technique. Immediately the course left the velodrome and had two quick up hill sections that were relatively loamy. Even on the warm-up laps I knew that my mountain biking was paying off, as I was more aggressive in corners and the somewhat technical sections.

The second area that I targeted this year to improve upon was my starts. Typically I will go super hard, take the hole shot, then spend the rest of the race drifting backwards. On the line, there were several big guns and I decided to try to get fourth wheel into the woods. That shouldn't be too deep in the red, but won't make me regret starting slower. Through the first two laps, I stayed fourth wheel, with Mike and the other two guys moving around a bit. Then on the third lap, I caught a pedal and had a difficult remount in about ten seconds and a good size gapped formed with the leading three. I spent the rest of the race sitting in fourth place, often having to fight the mental aspect of racing, because I couldn't see the guys in front any more, nor could I really see the guys behind. True definition to no-man's land. Final result was 4th place. A good start to the second season.

This race also marks my entry into Master's racing. Thanks to cross' "racing up" I can race the big fast guys, while not celebrating my birthday yet. Actually, due to the way that cross works, I don't technically celebrate my 35th birthday for over a year, but the plus one to cyclings end of year racing age and I'm in!