I had originally planned on racing at just Knoxiecross last weekend, but I was talked into roadtripping to Nashville for the TN state cyclocross championships which was on Sunday.
There was lots of suffering. Why, you ask??
CYCLOCROSS....SINGLE SPEED STYLE!!!!
I tell ya, I am a glutton for
punishment.
First up on Saturday - Knoxiecross
Knoxiecross is kinda weird because they make all the women race in one category, so I got my ass handed to me by some pro mountain bikers. Riding two days a week just don't cut it against those folks. It was a really nice day for racing though, the weather was awesome - I didn't even need knee warmers! (I hate knee warmers, they always fall off me) The course was laid out nicely with a nice muddy pit right before a run up some stairs. Good lord, my shoes were full of mud. There were no barriers though, and I thank the course designer for that. At the end of the day, I wound up in 5th place.
Next up on Sunday - State CX Championship
I didn't plan on racing this. It's in Nashville, and I was perfectly content to let all the other crazies drive out there and race two days in a row. I guess plans change. I was talked into piling in the Suburban with Susi, Kim, and Jeremy and going down to Nashville on Saturday night. So we get to the hotel (Best Western...nice) unload all of our crap and stuff ourselves into the hotel room around 9 o'clock. We basically spent the night watching the Weather Channel and checking the internet to see if it is going to rain before, during, and after our races.
Fast forward to the race - this was a crazy course. I bet there was 10 miles of yellow caution tape going through the park. The course was 2.1 miles long and consisted of a mud pit, a sand pit, two natural barriers, a run up, and a set of man made barriers. Owwwwwwwwww. Pain, lots and lots of pain. I did a good bit of running instead of riding since I only had one gear and all. But, the good thing is, by the 3rd lap I had caught the leader! We went back and forth for the whole lap. I would catch her on the technical sections and she would pull away on the road sections - ahh, single speed! She pulled away pretty good on the last road section before the finish, so she won the race despite my best efforts.
I know there are some pretty good pictures of the races floating around, so when/if I get my hands on them, I'll be sure to post 'em. Oh, as for my fellow road trippers - Jeremy was third in CX3, Kim was 3rd in the same race I was in, and I can't remember what place Susi got, but she didn't fall in the mud.
5 comments:
Great Job Girl! Sounds like you had fun. Put up more pics when you get them. Can't believe how muddy the course was. I would be running around alot more then biking too:)
Oh good Bits--2nd is great! Umm...do you only have a single speed cross bike? If so, why? Is that the way you have raced the whole fall season? I feel like you could've beat that girl if you coulda changed gears!!!
Well thanks!
This was actually my first and second outings on the SS. I have a Cannondale that I bought last winter that I was riding at the beginning of the season. The thing is, the SS fits SOOOO much better than the Cannondale. Don't know if a fully geared bike would have helped me 'cause the SS made me push pretty hard in places I would have wussed out. But yeah, that girl would have gone down if I had some gears at the end.
hey did you change your blog layout? I like the new color scheme, but where are your side links?!?!
That takes me back to some fun CC races in the rain and mud... glad you are having fun! 2nd is pretty good for not even planning on that race!! :) Keep posting, love to see how you are doing!
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