So a little bit of whining first. Ever since I heard about the Cross Over Stage Race (a 3 stage cyclocross race in Eugene) last year I knew I wanted to do it. When planning my CX racing schedule I made sure that event was at the forefront of the calendar. It also worked out nicely that it would be my first 'cross race of the season and while I may not win it the idea of that type of racing really intrigued me. Until Thursday evening. I checked my email around 10:15 Thursday evening and found an email time-stamped 10:01. "CROSSOVER postponed" it read. Turns out there are supposedly 7 construction projects going on the at the race location this weekend. Isn't it the promoters job to prevent this kind of thing from happening. And do you usually let people know more than 36 hours before the first field takes off?!?
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| most of us didn't realize how fitting this name would be |
Ok, done whining. With the Eugene race cancelled and my hotel reservation generously refunded by travelocity (sometimes it takes just a little bit of pushing but in the end if you're not a complete a** to people they'll usually help you out) I set my sights on the Pain on the Peak CX race. This race is billed as one of the hardest races on the OBRA CX calendar so I have to admit I wasn't super excited about it, let alone racing through a hay field that is notorious for it's fine dust that gets into everything. That said, I'd much rather race my cross bike than sit on my skinny butt.
I knew the course was long but didn't have any idea exactly how long until our chief referee announced "2.1 miles, you should get through 4, maybe 5 laps. Fastest lap has been 9:50 so if you hit 9:30 you'll be doing pretty well." And with that the whistle went off.
the start--"ok, don't go out too fast, you know what happens when you get excited and take off like a gerbil on speed"
"hold it through this first corner. NO, HOLD IT."--"damn, off into the deep hay"
"alright, making up time. Only 3 guys in front of me. That means I'm 4th. Payout goes 5 deep. Alright, I'm still in the money"
"damn, that second log (barrier) is really high. Need to watch out for that one later"
"Holy f***, 5 laps..., that's a long way"
"4 barriers. Who puts 4 barrier sections in a cross race?!"
"wait, who's passing me?! Ok, it's just a singlespeed and his legs are the size of my torso, let him go"
"alright, got one geared guy, two still in front of me, 3.5 laps to go, I can do this"
"holy crap this course is hard. Wait, another single speed past me. What's going on here?"
"what's with all these SS guys?" now three in front of me and only one geared guy left
"ok, 2.5 laps left, I'm in the lead. Too early, can I hold on?"
"who's wheat field is this? Who decided it'd be a great idea to let a bunch of bikers ride through this?"
"why am I still riding? It has to be 90 degrees, it's dusty. I'm tired are we done yet?"
take a look back--"ok, you're 30+ seconds up on #2, you can hold this"
bell lap--"I'm tired, I've done my work, can I just stop riding now"
"it's not over 'til it's over. You could flat. You could break a collar bone"
slip on the gravel--"see, that could've been your collar bone. Just keep riding your damn bike"
"just one more time over that brutal whoop-de-whoop. Ok, nailed it, let's drive this thing home"
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| I promise. My salute/celebration was lame but not quite as lame as it looks here |
At the end of the day I completed 5 laps in 46:09, an average of 9:14. Definitely not as fast as the A field but hey, baby steps, right?
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| the view was spectacular. And yes, those are racers. On hay... |
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| My half-a** "don't-get-too-excited" start |
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| barriers #1: the logs |
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| coming into barriers #2 |
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| going through barriers #2 (I really like this shot, seriously) |
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| logs. For the 4th time |
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| driving in to the finish |
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| podium. Let's just say this win netted the final earnings for the B-bike |
You beat Nat! Who is also on Team O. Kind of.
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