September 7th marked the start of the 2014/2015 cyclocross race season. For those who aren’t familiar with cyclocross, it is basically an off-road circuit race on your road bike with the occasionally obstacle thrown in you have to run or jump over. It is a pretty ridiculous sport, which is why I like it.
Last year, I raced category C (beginners) and generally did pretty OK, so I decided to move up to cat B, which is about equivalent to a 3/4 group on the road. After a pre-ride of the course, checking out the technical terrain, making sure my tire pressure guess was about right and generally getting used to the dirt on my road bike again, it was time to race!
11 of us started in the masters 35+ with a short climb to the first barrier section, and was quickly reminded that remounts are a skill you can lose. Fortunately it was a bit of a climb to start which suits me and then a technical descent which also works well for me, so I was able to stick with the front group for the first half a lap. After that, my usual lack of time on the bike found me drifting away from the front guys, eventually losing contact with them, but catching some of the slower riders from the previous waves.
Overall, it was an enjoyable course – fast, fun obstacles (although i never did figure out how to clear the sand pit), and 5th place was honestly better than I was expecting (the 3rd place finisher was another local racer who is definitely strong). It was a fun finish as i tried to catch one of the singlespeeders, and just missed it due to poor judgement after a remount. The beer handup was a nice bonus, though!
http://www.cccxcycling.com/2014crossRACE1resultspage.html
Let’s get dirty!
Brian Gokey
Great work Damon and nice report.
Garry Birch
Awesome start to the X season for you Damon, long may it continue.