Reprot from Mansfield, CT 'cross

Hi Girls

I went to the race at Mansfield Saturday, and had my first cross experience.
It was totally traumatic!

I got there with what I thought was plenty of time -- over an hour, and started to pre-ride. But I freaked on the very first challenge (the steep off camber thing) and almost quit right there!! Luckily, there was a REALLY nice guy at the side line who encouraged me to still try it.

But then i had to get signed up and stuff and wasn't able to pre-ride the rest.
The course was really hard compared to Glousceseter and had a bunch of mountain bike type stuff that was a shock to me as I had not been able to check it out before.

But I hung in and just like hiked thru the stuff I couldn't do, got bruised and cut up, but was laughing my *** off! The whole thing seemed kind of ridiculous what I was trying to do!

ANyway, I really had loads of fun. The crowd there was 95% men and reallly really supportive and friendly. No one was snobby and some of the guys even said "excuse me" (!?) as they hammered by my pathetic situations. : )

Def. need to do easier race next time, but I've got the bug now. I can really see how the racing thing can suck you in. I think I'm going to go to the thing in Canton Mass. this sunday. Since I have no pride left after next week, why not!!:D

Congratulations on your first race.

BTW, I typically get to a race at least two hours before my start time. This gives me time to pre-ride, reg, warm-up, futz around a little, and relax (important to overcome pre-race jitters).

In CA, we can only pre-ride between races or right after a race starts, so we're pretty limited and tend to arrive early for that reason.

Congrats o the first race! Don't worry about the technical stuff - that all comes with time. I will be in Canton on Sunday with a LOAD of teammates. Since our race starts at 10, I will likely try to be there no later than 9 (but definitely pre-reg on bikereg.com to get that part out of the way!).

LMK if you want to try and connect - we have a VERY supportive group of women, many of whom are doing 'cross for the first time this season.

SheFly

SheFLy

Thanks so much for the encouragement. Which team are you one??

Yes I want to be at Canton. Have you done canton before?


Yes I did pre-reg on bike-reg. but I didn't think I'd be required to buy a UCI liscense, and then I was nervous and had to pee about 9 times. :D

While I have never done Canton before, I have spoken with a number of people who have, and I have heard good things about the course. That said, I will be sure to be there early enough to pre-ride!

I race for NEBC (Northeast Bicycle Club). This is a GREAT group of women - very supportive and encouraging, and we have had the services of a coach all season to help us with our training, racing and skills. I'll introduce you to some of the team on Sunday.

Are you sure you're registered for Sunday? I didn't see your name on the confirmed rider list. And don't worry about the needing to pee issue - it will get worse once you are lined up to start :D . For me, that's when the butterflies start doing the Olympics!

See you on Sunday.

SheFly