zagnut

I've been riding my Shimano 105 equipped Soma Doublecross for several months now almost all of it on pavement except for a sojourn in the mtns of New Mexico. It has performed well on singletrack (some of it pretty technical), fire roads and pave, so yesterday I took the leap and entered a "practice CX race".
Holy crap, what an eye opener. I started at the back since I was pretty unsure of my skills in a pack, esp considering that the organizer said that this was basically a "technical" course, lotsa off camber, 180*, turns, steep run ups, and all on grass save about 200 yards of pavement. Well after about three laps, I was gaining confidence and found myself dicing it up with the leaders. That didn't last long though, as they continued by and finished lapping me. When I got word that there were 4 laps to go I was elated on the one hand, but thinking holy crap am I going to make it at this pace.

I was discouraged to say the least, my nickname should be Hoover, or Electrolux. For awhile, I thought I'd died and gone to hell. I was able to save some self respect when I remembered that there was probably nobody racing that was within 15 (maybe even 20) years of my geezer status, but that was still small consolation. I might have felt better had I been smart enough to bring some malted beverages for the after race. Wow, I sure see why there is so much talk of beer drinking and CX, I coulda tossed down 3 real quick.

I knew going in that my bike was probably not the best for racing, as it is probably a size to large and pays a price in weight. I also need another gear, as 12/25 was not quite enough with a 34 small CR. If the motor was better, then the bike would probably be fine for as much as I'm gonna race. I am now contemplating a real race on Sunday, maybe there will be some geezers to match up with. That's the scary part though, they might kick my arse too. I'm not sure my ego can take it. Ah, but then there's beer, maybe 3 beers.Zagnut

Ronsonic 

Welcome to the club.

Barrettscv 

Nice report, admit it... it was fun.

flanman

Gotta bust the virginity sometime!

You could have spent $6k on a Time Cross Pro with SRAm REd and you would have finished in exactly the same place. At least you didn't get lapped twice, which happened to me on my first race, as well as getting barred by an old geezer and invited to fight by a dude who though I was warming up and getting in his way.

It's all about the engine.

MONGO!

Cross is brutal, hard effort for the full 45 mins/hou, usually about 2 laps in I'm seriously considering throwing in the towel, then I remember to HTFU and manage to finish.

Good luck at your first real race, one tip, race the beginners category, not your age group, those old dudes are fast.

Andy_K 

That sounds a lot like my first race, except I had a guy who was preriding the course for a later race patiently waiting behind me after asking if I was racing (it certainly wasn't obvious by my pace).


You make it two laps before you're thinking about throwing in the towel? I'm impressed. It's been a first lap thing for me.

Jagee

I can't stop laughing when I read this line. I've got my first race next Sunday. So far, I know two things for certain: keep pedaling and watch out for mean old geezers. Can't wait!