Saturday marked the end to the racing season for most of us amateurs around here. Here in Eastern PA there was the option of doing the Rockville Bridge Cyclocross Classic near Harrisburg, or the NJ State Championships just over the border in Phillipsburg. I chose to get a few extra hours of sleep and go to NJ.
Turned out to be a good choice, the course was a ton of fun. One killer run up, two sections of barriers, some tight & twisty off-camber stuff, and plenty of wide open sections perfect for passing. The morning started really cool, but after a good warm up I was ready to go with shorts and the usual long sleeve jersey.
With some 60+ starters in the "C" race, and no call-ups for me this time, I got to the staging area early and was surprised that no one else was there. Just then, the announcer made the call to start staging and the riders swarmed. A bunch of NJ riders got their call-ups, and the rest of us scrambled in to get a spot. I was something like 20-25 back, not too bad.
During the first lap, I was struggling to find a good line through some of the really slick stuff. I tried some routes that didn't work, and crashed a couple of times. I got up to where the top 10 or so seemed to be, and spent a lap or two trading spots with 2-3 other riders who kept passing me when I slid out, and I'd struggle to get by them again. I felt like I wasn't riding at my physical limit, but I was probably trying to ride past my bike-handling limit. The race felt much easier then the Spring Mount race, although I don't have an average HR to compare because my chest strap slid off and I ended up wearing it like a belt. I spent too much time falling down and trying to maneuver the turns to push my legs to their limit.
Coming around to the run-up, I dismounted and shouldered my bike just when someone behind me went down hard. I couldn't tell if I hit him with my bike, or if he just rode head first into the hill. Turns out someone caught it on video.
While I've still got plenty to learn, comparing my barrier technique to my first 2 races is as different as night and day.
I didn't have big expectations for myself, I knew that there would be a large, competitive field, and I decided before even getting up that morning that it would be a purely fun race to enjoy myself. Enjoy myself, I did, and a 6th place was a nice surprise.
After the C race, I was milling around, drinking a hot chocolate to stay warm, and noticed a few snow flakes start to fall. By the time I made the trip back home, the sky had opened up and the snow really started coming down. Some great conditions for the afternoon races, I'm sure.
Now it's time to start looking forward to 2010, thinking about winter training, and picking out the races for next year. Oh man, I can't wait...
Marten
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