CX Race Tomorrow....and it's gonna hurt

[madisongrrl]

Today was humbling....I just got done taking a CX clinic taught by Ben Turner of Cyclo-Smart. It was great. Ben was so helpful and full of knowledge that I was very thankful that I took the clinic.

http://www.cycle-smart.com/coaching/...n/ben_bio.html

There is so much technique to Cyclocross. Today, I took in an amazing amount of CX information. So much so that I'm overwhelmed and a little nervous for my race tomorrow. I almost regret asking WI's USA cycling CX rep to upgrade me to a CAT 3 (which she easily did because of my mountain biking race results).

My Norba license now states:
Categories
Cyclo-cross Cat 3 Active 12/31/2006

It might have been a mistake, but I'll find out tomorrow. Too late to chicken out now.

http://www.wicycling.org/CycloCross/...ce%20Flyer.pdf

The mounts, dismounts, barricades, sand pits, off camber downhill sections are going to kick my butt. I practiced mounting and dismounting my bike 100+ times. The bruising that I have on the inside of my right thigh is outrageous. One time I completely missed my bike and my thigh landed on the back of my tire...pinching it between the tire and the brake. And that was just practicing at an easy pace....wait until tomorrow when I'm racing at the redline, totally anaerobic and terribly tired. I can't imagine being any more bruised than I already am.

You cyclocrossers are nuts...I feel safer on my mountain bike.

Happy CX season everyone,

[Kalidurga]

I have photos from the Charm City race in which riders have both legs extended in the air behind them as they remount after an obstacle. I can't tell you how many times I cringed watching that move.

Good luck in the race today! :D

[madisongrrl]

My first race is now under my belt. I only puked once before my race due to absolute nervousness of never having raced this type of race before. The 40 minutes +1 was one of the hardest efforts of my life. It is now the day after the race and I still feel like crap. My mediocre result showed that I need to do more high intensity training. I was 9 of 15 in the Women's Cat 3 race. Boy can those roadies turn on the heat.

Happy CX season everyone,

[mimitabby]

good luck girls!

[velogirl]

I just got done taking a CX clinic taught by Ben Turner of Cyclo-Smart. It was great. Ben was so helpful and full of knowledge that I was very thankful that I took the clinic.

http://www.cycle-smart.com/coaching/...n/ben_bio.html


First, congratulations on your race!!! Just curious, but why would you want an upgrade if you've never raced cross? How do the categories break down in WI?

Now, Ben Turner is completely hot!!! I drool over him in my cx dvds. And Ryan Trebon. And Adam Craig.

Okay, back to you.....congratulations again!

[madisongrrl]

First, congratulations on your race!!! Just curious, but why would you want an upgrade if you've never raced cross? How do the categories break down in WI?

In 2005 (in WI) there were three classes for CX. Class A, B & C with A class being "elite" and C class being "beginner". This year the classes for women have now changed to Cat 1/2, Cat 3, Cat 4 with Cat 1/2 being "elite" and Cat 4 being "beginner".

When you buy a NORBA sport license, your CX class will automatically be Cat 4. But you will typically see the sport mountain bikers race Cat 3 for CX (here in WI). So that is why I chose to upgrade right away. I thought it would be a more appropriate place to start....and it was. Though I really need to work on all the techniques that I learned as well as do some high intensity workouts to really gear up for this type of racing. It should make for a really fun and educational fall season of racing bikes.




Now, Ben Turner is completely hot!!! I drool over him in my cx dvds. And Ryan Trebon. And Adam Craig.


Yup, I'd have to agree with you!

[velogirl]

I was wondering what other parts of the country were doing with the new USAC categories for cross.

In the bay area, the promoters have effectively ignored the new categories and are still racing A/B/C. They've provided guidelines for racers based on the numerical categories, but it's all voluntary. I think it's going something like this -- A = 1, B = 2, 3, C = 3, 4. One promoter did this: A= 1-3, B = 2 - 4, C = 4.

It will be interesting to see where USAC decides to goe with this since I think many of the local associations are basically ignoring the new categories.

For women, we have A, B, C and 35+. They stagger us so we're all on the course at the same time. Seems to work pretty well.