well my first race was this past weekend (cross your heart) and i had a blast. to give you a little background, i'd never done any sanctioned racing; road, mtb, etc. i've been an avid commuter for years and like to get out and ride around the city, but i rarely put in any major miles, and certainly have never trained for anything.
i'd always thought cx would be a blast, but was always afraid of getting my ass kicked, so when my friends told me they were going to enter the race, i thought "well hell, i can beat you guys, at least i won't be last" and signed up. i have an old beat-up gary fisher alum commuter frame that i built up at my local co-op with a steel hybrid fork and assorted bits, nothing too crappy, but nothing grand either. the only thing worth a damn on the bike are my ultegra/open-pro wheels, which i put on after i got new wheels for my road bike. i had been using it for commuting in the snow with 42c IRC tires and figured i could just throw some drop bars on it and use it for the race.
the race was a mix of pavement, grass, mud, MUD, and ice, i'm sure there will be plenty written about it and tons of pictures in the upcoming week or so.
i learned several things:
1. i got a tip from a video online to run the shortest chain you can. i am running 1x8 with an outside bashring, but nothing to keep the chain from jumping off the inside. i can't say that if i had not shortened the chain that i would have had problems, only that the chain stayed on the whole time without trouble
2. i put my crank bros mallets on my bike because i feared that having to jump on and off and clipping in and out of my pedals in the mud and ice would be a real problem. i couldn't have been more right. i was able to hop on my bike and pedal a few rotations to get moving before i had to worry about clipping in. this was a real time saver and i passed numerous other riders having trouble clipping in after dismounting. i can't imagine having done this with regular eggbeaters.
3. warm up. this has already been said, but it's super important. it's not an endurance race, and i know my body doesn't start to get into the groove for 10-15 minutes at least.
4. almost all the advice i read about the start says to get as far into the front as you can from the very beginning so you don't get caught in the bottleneck. i totally understand this sentiment. i started near the back and i was literally walking through the first 100 yards or so after it narrowed down because there were so many people, but i wasn't racing to win. after things spread out a little i began to start passing people. i get WAY more thrill out of passing someone than getting passed, so i came out of the race pretty darn stoked because i probably passed 20 people and only got passed twice. had i started balls-out i may have finished better, but i wouldn't have won, and i would have felt a little bit of myself die as i got passed again and again by better riders that i happened to beat on the start.
5. running kicked my @SS. i don't ever run, but it couldn't hurt to put in some miles if you are serious about cx. running up the few hills i had to get up was definitely the most efficient way for me to get up them, but i was DYING after i got back on my bike.
6. pick someone and stick with them. this is a tactic that can be used in any race that you aren't in it to win, but it totally works. as a newb, i would just follow a guy in front of me, keep up with him and watch how he deals with the course. if he's too slow, pass him and start watching the next guy, etc.
7. SLOW DOWN for the ice and mud. i ate it, bad, twice. once was on a patch of ice and the other in a mud pit. i knew the ice would be tricky and i just didn't slow down enough, but i didn't realize that taking a turn in the mud could be just as slick as the ice.
8. don't be afraid to get off and run. when i started the race, i had a mentality of only getting off my bike if i NEEDED to, but before the first lap was over i had realized that i could pass people on certain sections by just dismounting and running past them, then hopping back on
9. i didn't have as much trouble getting on and off my bike as i thought. maybe it's just years of commuting, running errands and stuff, but i felt getting on and off my bike came very naturally, even grabbing the bike to jump over obstacles wasn't a huge deal. for the record there weren't any parts of this course that i felt i needed to shoulder my bike, only run with it or pick it up very briefly
10. it'll be over before you know it. after 2 laps i thought to myself "oh my god i'm never going to make it" then i passed the start line and realized i only had 2 laps to go. once i realized i was halfway there i felt much better.
there's probably a lot more, but i've wasted enough of my boss's time
p.s. here's me on the franken-bike of my own
