Alpenrose Cyclocross Kickoff Bonanza

Today was the first race of the Cross Crusade series.  With over 1200 participants, it was a wild, muddy party.  There was an overwhelming vibe of happiness today.  You could tell a lot of people have been looking forward to this day for a long time, including me. 

The course was awesome, pretty much the same as years past.  With the rain we had, it was nice and slippery.  Lots of off camber and slippery hills kept the spectators well entertained with countless crashes.  The muddy run-up on the back side of the course was so slippery in the A race, some people were using their hands to claw up it.

Yeah, I was pretty excited to participate today, and participate I did.  I rode the single speed race, followed by the Masters A race.  I don't think I'll be doing that again, or at least I won't hit the single speed race with the same amount of enthusiasm.  I am so tired now, I can't even think straight. 

I really enjoyed the single speed race.  I don't know if it was due to my lower expectations, or what, but it was sure fun.  The A race was great, but I was more aware of the fact I was getting my butt kicked out there.  Maybe it was because I had an extra 15 minutes to suffer and think about it.  I heard lots of cheers, so thanks for those.  Heidi's cheering was so over the top, it was hilarious.  That was nice, because laughing eased the pain for a little bit. 

The single speed race was cool.  It was only 45 minutes, which I didn't mind one bit.  On the first lap, as I approached the first barrier section, so confident in my dismounting skills was I that I waited until the last possible second.  I couldn't decide to go foot forward, or foot back, and when I finally decided, I ran out of time for a full dismount and crashed into the board with a nice smack to my knee from the stem.  It's kind of swollen now but I'm sure that will go away soon.  I wanted to race with my buddy Richard, but he kept crashing in the end (I kid) so I rode with Mr. Chauncey Curl instead (in photo).  I noticed a lot of track riders race the single speed race.

After that single speed race, I tried to find a free hose to clean up the bike for the pits.  It took a long time.  I wanted to spend a little more time watching the women's race, but it was all I could do to clean my bike up, get changed into some dry clothes, get my bike to the pit, and ride around for a few minutes.  My "warm up" for the A race consisted of me tenderly riding around, wondering how in the world I was going to recharge for another hour out there.

The M-A race was much faster.  I lined up third row, and was looking to get up towards the front.  We hit the first turn and two guys managed to get tangled up together right in front of me.  I had to stop and get around them, so there went the good start.  It pretty much went downhill from there.  I was kind of tired, hungry, and man my back was killing me.  It's humbling to discover you're more of a weenie than you thought.  At least it was raining; that made things a lot of fun.  I was slipping and sliding all over the place.  Turns out my rear tire is nearly bald, and that makes the handling a little crazy!  However, getting sideways in the mud is especially fun, skill building, and something you can't do all that often in the summer.  Oh, and it builds character to boot.

Note to self - mount new tires before next weekend.  I hope it rains all week!