Cyclocross Season So Far

As so far, I have competed in the first two races of my second cyclocross season.  Last year, I raced juniors in cyclocross, but having aged out, I had to race Cat4 for this season.  Unfortunately, Cat4 is the lowest category, if there was a Cat6, I would race it, I'm much more comfortable on the pavement.  You don't have to be good at cross to have a good time at the race though.

Running Up the Hill of Death

For the first race of the season; Kickoff Cross, I pulled a hip flexor on my first remount and had a truly miserable race, I couldn't generate any torque without hurting my hip flexor further.  Because of this, I finished the race in last place, not a good way to start the season.

The second race went considerably better though.  Marilla Park Cyclocross, AKA Carrera a de los Muertos, is a great course, very technical in parts (to me at least), but it also has some fast flat sections.  I started the race in one of the last call up positions, but was soon overtaken by many riders who started in the very back, I also passed a few riders who started in front of me.  

I kept a pretty even pace throughout the race, and didn't really feel held back due to my lack of gears.  I had a rather embarrassing crash before the first set of barriers, but teammate Ben, standing by with a camera, was kind enough to not photograph me in such a position.

I finished the race in 20th place out of thirty-some riders, which, for me, is simply miraculous.  Hopefully I'll be able to follow up that result further into the season.

Also, if any of you were wondering, Carly Audet claimed the prize of one delicious Honey Stinger Waffle, for recognizing that all of my previous post titles were REO Speedwagon song titles.  Now I'm out of REO titles, but I'll think up something new...

Thanks for reading,

Jonathan