SoonerDave

43 y.o. Have not exercised regularly since 2009. Bought a bike 12 days ago. Heard about a race near my home. Entered. Wrecked in first minute of race. Came in last. Am unfathomably sore, can barely bend my right knee. Pain everywhere to the point of dismay at what morning will bring. Tasted my own blood.

Received gracious applause, and a beer, during race. Laughed on bike while believing there was actually a legitimate chance I might die.

This is probably a common first time experience.

This is an awesomely weird sport. Road biking+BMX+Olympic Style Prison Breaking.

Looking forward to the next one, in 4 weeks.

Damn, my knee hurts.

Mark Stone

Hahahaha - (I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with you) -- Look at it this way: Nowhere to go but ↑up↑

BTW welcome to the forums. We may start a Hospital forum just for you - -

jwarner

Right on man! That sounds like one heck of a great day!

Pain is weakness leaving the body, and chicks dig scars, especially if they have a good story behind them.

Andy_K 

Yep. Sounds like you did it right.

gamby

Bravo for having the testicular fortitude to get out there and do it!!! That's the hardest part and you've already done it!

Now for some training/conditioning. Good luck with future races.

FugginCycling

I know how you feel man. I have only done 2 CX races so far. Luckily I haven't wrecked but it's friggin' fun as hell.

I just know I will have to do alot more MTB in order to improve with CX. I do a crapton of road riding, but I think alot of MTB riding will vastly improve CX skills.

Black wallnut 

Wrecking is racing! Way to go man, sounds like you did it right beer hand up and all! Sounds to me like you are hooked.

xjustice09x

I've only done 2 races so far and have had a few things go wrong. You just keep going till the race is over. I went down in my first race. My rear tire slid out in a loose sandy corner.

In my second race yesterday I lost focus on my last lap and almost missed a turn. I ended up getting the tape marking the course wrapped around my handlebars. I also ripped a hole in my bib shorts on my right thigh when they got caught on my saddle during a dismount.

Its alot of fun and I am looking forward to next weekends race.

yochris 

Congrats, you got it right on your first try.

sgtdirt

this is my first season too! we're 5 races into an 8 race series. crashes!? ha! it happens...
the series i am in has a single speed category. whew! talk about a workout!

SoonerDave

Thanks for all the positive feedback and encouragement! Really appreciated. Yes, I am hooked, I really want to get out and perform better in my next race. I've been laying off of posting for a couple of days after my first post above because, for about 48 hours, I was convinced I had torn my MCL in my very first damned race. Turns out, just a really bad sprain of same. It has kept me off the bike, which is unfortunate because I am really, really itching to get out and train, especially now that I know more what I need to be good/get better at. No question, cardio conditioning needs to be stepped up about 50 notches.

Thanks again for the good vibes!

ricohman

Good job!
Although I road race, this was my first season of cross. I also had a blast racing my single speed UNIT.
In one race I also had a beer, and some bacon! lol!

Niloc

Congrats, I managed to hold off wrecking until mid way through my second season. Well, I'd fallen off the bike before, but I mean badly wrecking. Last lap of Sunday's race I collided with a slowpoke from a different start that we were lapping and ended up with a destroyed fork and a messed up knee. Went to the ER and fortunately it's just a bad bruise. Hoping it recovers soon and I'm looking around for a replacement bike because I'm not ready for my season to be over. Just pissed that I won't be able to race this Sunday!

caloso

Sounds about right. When I just did road riding, I'd measure the distance between crashes in thousands of miles. Since I started racing CX, I started measuring in meters.

aquateen

my first race is this weekend. definitely nervous.