I won a cyclocross race!!!

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Ok, so only the women's C race and there were only 5 of us, but only 3 of us completed all 4 laps and I was 23+ seconds ahead of 2nd place. Wine will flow tonight! Man, I friggin' love this sport! And to think it was <2 years ago that I said I'd NEVER do cyclocross. I said that about mountain biking, too. Gah, I am getting fat eating my words!

The woman who won last week got moved up to Bs...she races in a skinsuit, FFS. Last week I was 4th, the week before that I was 5th (would have been 4th, but somehow my rear wheel worked its way out of the dropout and I had to pull off to fix it. It actually took me a bit to figure out what was wonky with my bike).

I'd love to someday race B Master's. If I dropped that nagging 20#s and upgraded a few things on my bike (the wheels are really low-rent, heavy, and won't stay true and the brakes are almost worthless--I have to start braking really early to keep control and steer at the bottom of hills if there is any turn) I think I could make it happen. The little bit of mountain biking I've done this year has been really good for my CX skills.

[thekarens]

Congrats, well done!

[Giulianna23]

Wow...Congrats!...Nice picture!...I hope by next summer be ready to do a mountain bike race....

[Owlie]

Well done! Awesome picture, and I love the socks. What are they?

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Well done! Awesome picture, and I love the socks. What are they?

Smartwool! I also have a pair of Darn Tough knee-highs that I like. I need to get more...lucky socks!

[Wahine]

Yay!! Well done!!

I don't know how it works where you are but I just cat'd myself up to Masters B 35+. I never win anymore but I love racing in that group.

Yes, mtn biking seriously improves your cyclocross skills. The only chance I have of being on the podium is in the more technical races, then I have the advantage of my time on the mtn bike to help me. In the cardio hammerfests, I am sunk.

I got beat this weekend by a friend who for years I've known has the potential to beat me but she just didn't have the bike handling skills... well, on a not so technical course, she can beat me now. I've still got her on the more technical stuff. Maybe to need to actually train a bit.

Congratulations again! Keep having fun. That's what it's all about.

ETA: I *always* race in knee highs, no matter how hot it is. Just another reason to love cross.

[OakLeaf]

Woot! Very nice, congrats! (And you look fabulous.)

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Woot! Very nice, congrats! (And you look fabulous.)

Thanks! I figure if I can't be superfast I can be superfly!

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ETA: I *always* race in knee highs, no matter how hot it is. Just another reason to love cross.

You know, I may start doing that. I always seem to get chain grease on my legs during CX races.

Maybe next year I will just do Masters B races. If I committed to doing that it would force me to work my *** off to not get lapped (too many times/race) and to have the endurance to do more laps/race.

My technical skills are still not great, but mostly in terms of mounts/dismounts. I can't do a rolling mount at all. My rolling dismounts are OK, but slow--mostly because I run slow and if I go into them too fast my legs can't catch up and down I go...learned this the hard way, heh. I am still far faster than I was a year ago, so that is good.