Nope, I don't mean cross dressing season. Everybody knows that's year 'round. I'm talkin' about psycho-friggin'-cross. Running steep hills, slogging through mud, sliding through sandy turns, missing clipouts at 10mph and almost falling face-first into a barrier. And that most plaguing of questions: Is it physiologically possible to 'cough up a lung'? Oh yeah, cyclocross -- quite possibly my favorite European export.But until 'cross season there are other diversions, like road racing. I upgraded to Cat 4 this season, so competition has been a little better (with fewer silly crashes ... although there have been some doozies.) Our field sizes can be 40 to 60 racers. My good friend Mr Nacey suggested I post my results. Well, here ya go:
April 14: Oxbow Classic -- 7th (A lovely gravel road race chock full o' hills including one 17-18% grade at the finish line.)
April 28: Ken Woods Memorial -- 11th (Like most upper Midwest road races, it's a rectangle laid out on county roads through farm fields. That is to say, windy. Very windy. Since it's a glorified square, you're guaranteed a tail wind for some portion of the loop.)
May 5: Gluek Road Race -- 8th (Another rural course. Mid 50s at the start with a little rain and winds gusting to 40mph. We had an epic pile up on one cross-wind section. I heard one guy broke his collar bone, another dislocated his shoulder. Ouch. I have [knock on wood] been very lucky to get around these pile ups with inches to spare and keep myself from going down.)
The road race season in MN is notoriously short. Nothing left to do now (until June anyway) except criteriums, time trials and track racing. (And then ... come September ... 'cross season!) I'm okay with some down time. I'm actually contemplating a couple weekend tours and Memorial Day weekend we are biking (the whole family) down to a park 30 miles out of the city to camp for the weekend. Once you begin integrating bicycle travel into your life there's not much you can't go do or enjoy on a bike.
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