Tis The Season

Cyclocross season is coming up and, as usual, I'm looking forward to racing. Yesterday I drove down to Moscow for a practice race at Sky Ranch. My two warm up laps were rough. I was doubting myself and my confidence waned as I struggled through the course. That changed once we lined up to race. There's something about going head to head with others that gives me a huge boost. I jumped out in front of as many as I could at the start so I'd be ahead of them when we hit the single track. That worked out really well for me. I reeled in a couple of other rides on the first lap and ended up behind a young lady. I'd catch her in the technical parts but she'd run away from me on the straightaways. I may have done better if I had more gears on my single speed.

But then it wouldn't be a single speed.

Anyway, I kept reeling her in and she kept running away. On laps 3 and 4 I focused on picking good lines, riding as smooth as possible, and relaxing. I was breathing hard but I felt good. Laps 5 and 6 went by so quickly. Again I'd catch up to that young lady and she'd pull away again. Near the end, her undoing was a dropped chain when she set her bike down to hard after the barriers. Bummer for her but that's part of the game. Right after passing her I realized we had closed in on a young man. He gunned it and tried to run away on the straightaway to the finish. I don't think I've ever spun my legs that fast before. I got right on his tail, darted around him about 100 feet from the line, and sped past him.

That felt good.

So here's what I'm looking forward to.

Inland Northwest Cyclocross Series Schedule

Wild West CX Series Schedule

And I hope to squeeze in a race or two on the west side of the state so I can race with my brother John.