Cyclocross!!

As promised, I participated in my first cyclocross race today. I can honestly say that it was one of the hardest events I've ever done on two wheels. Like a criterium on the road, I was in the red zone throughout the entire event, struggling to keep up with the rider in front of me. The race was in a park in Rockaway, New Jersey. The course featured soggy, grassy fields, lots of gravel pits, and a couple of steep climbs, which racers had to run up while carrying our bicycles. There was two steep descents, both into gravel run-outs, and a series of two barriers, that racers had to jump over. BVF was out in force, with six of us racing in the 'C' event, and a seventh watching from the sideline with his toddler son.

The race started like a mountain bike race, with racers stacked in a wide section of the course. When the official blew the whistle we all raced as quickly as we could for the narrow section of the course. The field quickly strung out, just as it would in a mountain bike race, with smallish groups of 4 or 5 riders zipping around the course. early in the race, I was able to pass other racers on the wider section of the course, and on the technical sections, where the suspension on my mountain bike was a huge help. Eventually, I fell in with a group of riders going about my pace, and then I quickly started loosing ground, as guys on 'cross bike out-accelerate me out of turns on the wide-open grassy fields.

As my team mate Ben (who was our top finisher at 4th place) pointed out to me on the way home, you can participate in a 'cross race on a mountain bike, but you can't really be competitive. I didn't have big enough gears to keep up with riders using regular 'cross bikes, and my wheels where simply too small to keep up. I was able to ride faster through some of the more technical sections, but in the long run, this proved not to be enough of an edge. I suppose that means I should buy a 'cross bike...

Eventually I got into a rhythm, and started racing behind my team mate Jason, who is a much more experience 'cross rider than I am (which is to say, he's done it before, and I hadn't). We cruised a long for a few laps, until we can to one of the steep descents. He hit his brakes too hard and dove over his handlebars. He was uninjured, but after leaving him behind I was racing mostly on my own, and wasn't sure of where anyone else was on the course. I passed some more people, and some people passed me.

On the last lap, a youngish kid passed me on a 'cross bike, only to crash directly in my path, which irked me a great deal. I rode around him, and continued racing, now with the goal of beating him to the line. Of course, he soon caught up to me, and kept trying to pass by calling out that he was passing on the left, or passing on the right. Each time I'd move to block his path. After all, this was a race, even if the race was for 30th place. Anyway, he eventually passed me, and I wasn't able to catch back up, and he beat me. Oh well.

I have not yet seen the official results, but I think I somewhere close to 30th place, out of a field of about 45. Not bad, I think. for my first cross race ever! There were some photos taken, and I'm hoping to be able to share those with you soon. Until then, vote in my poll!!

In the next couple weeks, as I prepare for my move back to Saratoga I'm going to be doing a daily feature on the blog that will highlight spots that were important to me in the 22 years that I've lived in this neighborhood. So check back daily to see what gem I've dredged up from memory lane!