bikesandbeats: I had my first cyclocross race on Saturday. I woke up at 4am to drive to Vermont and
bikesandbeats: I had my first cyclocross race on Saturday. I woke up at 4am to drive to Vermont and make sure I was there early enough to get to pre-ride the course. Oooof that was early. As it turns out, the race that I picked for my first time trying the sport was one of the most hilly and difficult courses around. The pre-ride lap even kicked my ass, it just felt like the loop would never end! My favorite part of this race might be the fact that my Geekhouse kit isn’t in yet, so I was racing in a borrowed jersey, and Pegasus bibs. What a hot neon mess I was! It looked like someone took a box of Crayola crayons and put them in a blender and dumped it on a kit. And not the basic box, no no. The ultimate one that every kid was jealous of in elementary school. Anyways. I started the race in the very back, having no points yet, and I also reg’d really last minute. The course was really wide, so I could maneuver around pretty easily. I started off in the back but very quickly started passing people. I was finding myself in a pretty good position, and then of course, I dropped my chain. This happened twice during my race. But I managed to get it back on there fast enough. My dismounts went ok. My mounts….eh, were alright. There were one or two that I was REALLY happy with. And a couple that were entirely disastrous but it all went a lot better than I thought it would. It was just a LOT of climbing. I’m totally hooked though. I loved every second of it. It’s a whole different kind of pain than road, and not something I think I was entirely prepared for, but it was awesome. I can’t wait to do it again this weekend!! -- source link