Monday, November 17th, 2008
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I gave my second shot at cyclocross this weekend. It had rained on and off for the past few days and I was prepared for a complete mudfest and even caught up with local tri blogger Elaine (TriGrilPink) during my warmup lap and chatted for a bit.
Thankfully the men’s Cat 4 race was first, so the course wasn’t going to be nearly as beat up as it would be later in the day for the faster guys.
I did a hell of a better staying with the pack when the gun went off, but DAMN. Even in the Cat 4 race, these guys are fast. I’m still getting used to ramping up to top speed so quickly. When I pounded it up the first of two run/ride ups, I even got to a new max HR on the bike! 187 bpm baby! That is the highest I’ve gotten it on the bike recently, maybe ever. (I can already hear Brett yelling at me for not sticking to easy base workouts, shhhh!) Needless to say I did better than last time about making sure I didn’t have as much left in the tank when I crossed the finish line.
The whole course was pretty muddy and technical, but this one 75 meter stretch turned out to be the great equalizer. Ankle deep mud hid big roots and extra deep trenches that sucked you down and stole whatever momentum you were able to muster up. Even being able to stay on your bike and not having to run through the mud was an accomplishment.
During the first lap through the huge mud pit, I got stuck in a rut had to dismount to run the rest of the way through. The second lap, I had a new plan. Get a ton of speed and just force my way through.
That didn’t workout so well when my front tire hit a root hidden under a few inches of mud and my extra speed threw my bike off to the right as my body slammed down to the left and I went face first into the mud. It was actually really funny, especially as I looked up there was a guy with a camera who got a series of shots telling a pretty funny story about my mud bath. I found him after and he said he would post his pictures online. If i find them, I’ll post them later.
UPDATE: Check HERE for the all of the pics.
And now, for evidence of the mud fest that was the Boston Road Club Cyclocross Race…
Can you tell where my knee warmers ended?
I think there is more mud than shoe in this picture.
My road brakes actually didn’t do too bad in the mud. My road pedals? That is a different story alltogether.
My muddy stallion. My Fuju “Angela” is such a tank. I love her.
Tags: brc cyclocross, cyclocross | Posted in Cycling, Race Reports, Triathlon | No Comments »
