a midway bikelog

12th C1, 68 finishers in the C field

I was fighting off my first fall head cold all this past week, but by Saturday, i thought i was feeling pretty good. There’s nothing quite like a cyclocross race to test whether you’re truly over a cold, and in my case, i wasn’t.

This was my first time at the tree farm, and i like the course a lot. I understand that the switchback was a new feature, and i liked that too, a lot more than the excessive IUD-like twists at Boom Island. Overall, a good mix that demanded a good range of skills. I even like the run-up, but that’s probably because the quasi-stair steps in the dirt matched well with my long legs.

I got a decent start, no great holeshot or anything, but worked into the top 15 or so by the end of the first lap. I managed to pass another couple of riders on the second lap, but by the third it was all i could do to hang on (in fact i lost a place in there somewhere). The legs were fine, but the lungs were in worse shape than i knew, and by the finish line they were hurting a lot. I’ve had a couple of races this year when i would have been happy to tack on a couple more laps, but this was not one of them. Given the people around me in the pack, i’m pretty sure i would have finished 4-5 spots higher without the lung crud.

I felt fine after a few minutes’ recovery and stayed to watch the rest of the races, get a hot dog from Teddy Roosevelt, and help a bit with the results. It gave me a good appreciation for the work that goes in to cleaning up and posting CX results, it’s confusing stuff!

It was another beautiful day for ‘cross, hopefully i’m fully recovered for the next adventure in Blaine.

update: maybe not such a smart idea to race after all – i ended up with a nice case of pneumonia and in bed for a couple of days shivering. Looks like i’ll be taking a week off.