First race & a muddy second race...

[mtnmama]

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...

[Sheesh]

Mud sounds like fun! We haven't had any mud here, yet...

Congrats on your first race! And, congratulations to your son, too! That is so cute!

[SheFly]

There's mud in 'cross racing??? Sounds like a blast to me - here in New England, it's been dry,Dry, DRY all season.

congrats on your first and second race! Sounds like you had fun, which is the most important part of 'cross. And your son is so ADORABLE! Good for him getting out there and racing too.

Can't wait for more reports...

SheFly

[wavedancer]

Sounds like you and your son both had great first races! He is just too cute

Your Van Dessel looks good all mudded up. I'm sure you will have many more fun times racing together. I look forward to hearing your race reports!