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10-25-08, 08:01 PM
I went to a CX race last fall, initially just meaning to help set up the course. Eventually the team convinced me to ride it. On a rigid steel mountain bike. I DNF'ed, but made it through enough laps to be addicted.
Fast forward: Last Friday, I picked up a Felt F35X, shiny, new and spiffy. Took it on a 30mi road ride the next day, put some mud on it on Wednesday at the local cyclocross pactice. Today was the first race I've done on a real CX bike. It rocked.
I got my *** handed to me by a bunch of little kids, but kept in mind that I am out of shape. They aren't. I held a seat last or second to last at any given time, kept my tempo regular and chatted with the kid who was second to last or last. He was on a full-suspension mountain bike and did the riding with ease, but was thrown by the pacing (he was probably 13, 14 and had been riding since he was 6, racing recently). I took it easy - I'm not used to riding in the dirt, in the mud or on slick surfaces in general. I did get a workout, as there were some fast straightaways, but didn't want to kill myself in the corners trying to place above last. There's always practices for that.
And, yes, I did crash. Wiped out on an off-camber, grassy slope they had us riding on. Went over the bars in a small, twisty section in a grove of trees. It was something like a tank-slapper - bars went left, right, left, right, left, right, all in a second and I just went over them.
One of my friends called me a masochist. But even last in category, I'm ready to do this again.
Fast forward: Last Friday, I picked up a Felt F35X, shiny, new and spiffy. Took it on a 30mi road ride the next day, put some mud on it on Wednesday at the local cyclocross pactice. Today was the first race I've done on a real CX bike. It rocked.
I got my *** handed to me by a bunch of little kids, but kept in mind that I am out of shape. They aren't. I held a seat last or second to last at any given time, kept my tempo regular and chatted with the kid who was second to last or last. He was on a full-suspension mountain bike and did the riding with ease, but was thrown by the pacing (he was probably 13, 14 and had been riding since he was 6, racing recently). I took it easy - I'm not used to riding in the dirt, in the mud or on slick surfaces in general. I did get a workout, as there were some fast straightaways, but didn't want to kill myself in the corners trying to place above last. There's always practices for that.
And, yes, I did crash. Wiped out on an off-camber, grassy slope they had us riding on. Went over the bars in a small, twisty section in a grove of trees. It was something like a tank-slapper - bars went left, right, left, right, left, right, all in a second and I just went over them.
One of my friends called me a masochist. But even last in category, I'm ready to do this again.