3 Attachment(s)
First race & a muddy second race...
I have to say that it's so nice to have the first-race jitters past me. Now it's just flip'n muddy fun.
My first race was in Sacramento last weekend, it was a race that was part of the Northern CA cup series so it was a relatively big women's field of about 30 or so. ALL grass, BUMPY grass. Thank goodness for the neutral support pit for a wheel stop. I rode almost an entire lap on a flat before I picked up a new front wheel. I had no race goals other than simply finishing. Not coming in last place was a bonus. Note for future bumpy-grass courses: ride in the drops, not on the hoods.
Bonus race report: Also at the Sacramento race, my three year old son rode in the kids race. He was a late entry and rolled up to the starting line only to discover that he was about a foot shorter than any of the other kids and the only one with training wheels. He didn't care and he hammered his little legs for 20 minutes much to the pleasure of the cheering crowds. He put in a kick on the home stretch and the crowd went crazy. It was his moment and he was totally into it. As his not-really-competitive mother, I have to admit I was a bit freaked out by his seriousness. Anyway, he had a blast and got a cool medal out of it.
My second race was the first race in the Southern Oregon Outlaw CX series. As it was around 32 degrees, after riding a section of the course, I jumped on the trainer to warm up before the start. The start was a very casual "alright, go ahead and go" affair. I wasn't even on my bike before realizing that everyone was moving forward. The course was a nice mixed up jumble of singletrack, gravel, gooey mud, and a couple of huge mud puddles. Technical and wacky fun. No major drama to report, a few stray mud globs up the nose, and thankfully no flats. The Van Dessel Hole Shot felt just about perfect, its tuned well, no chain drops and the brakes/pedals held up well even with all the mud. I think it took me more time to wash all the mud off the bike than it did to actually ride the race.
Overall, this 'cross racing business turned out to be far more fun than I ever anticipated. Costume cross next weekend... bike racing in a costume? oh the crazy things we do for our children...
