Valmont CX

Mid-week update? No thanks. That would suggest something exciting has been going on. But I am a couple days behind on what seems to have become my weekly cyclocross race update. On Saturday they combined a 'cross race with the official groundbreaking ceremony for the Valmont Bike Park. I don't know the full details of the park but it does sound pretty awesome and will have a 'cross course that's there all the time. State of the art. Anyway, because of, well, I have no idea because of what, but because of something, they changed the starting times for the day. Usually Cat 4s don't race until 2:45 but today we were going off at 10. Even though my Friday night was pretty uneventful, it was still tough waking up on Saturday and I considered skipping the race. I can thank the dogs for getting me up though since they had to go outside and once I was up, I was racing.

Since I was slow going in the morning, instead of making something or stopping at Einstein's, I decided to fuel up with some delicious chocolate donuts from the gas station and topped it off with a Gatorade. All nutrition, all the time. I sucked that down on the way up to Boulder and debated how many layers I should wear during the race. It was pretty cold out in the morning and still in the high 40s when I got to the race. After I registered, switched out my wheels and started doing some warm-up laps, the temp started to rise and slowly but surely I took off the leg warmers, arm warmers, and then base layer. Somehow it had gone from 40s to 60s and was still on its way up.

Since I've been a slow starter in the past, I figured I'd start up front so I got to the line early and was in the first row. Then they did call-ups. Or at least the first half. Then they did call-ups for those people that had donated to the bike park. Then they did the rest of call-ups and then I was starting near the back again. At least I tried. The start was good in that it was a straight away for about 300 meters then turning right and going uphill. It broke some things up a little bit but with 70 riders on fresh legs, it took longer than that. The course itself was alright but it wasn't one that I was a big fan of. In fact, I was less a fan of the course than I am of ending sentences with prepositions which explains my previous sentence. But I digress..... The course was very bumpy witha lot of loose dirt that was very bumpy and mainly followed an earthmover's tracks that made it very bumpy. Kind of like parallel singletrack that was rough in between, making it difficult to pass in those sections. The backside was hacked weeds with a narrow singletrack. Again, it was tough to make passes but everyone had to deal with the same conditions. I think those with strong mountain biking backgrounds probably had the better advantage on this course. Hell, those with full suspension would have had the real advantage on this course.

Back to the race. It usually takes a lap to string out the pack and today was no exception. Surprisingly, though, I could feel my heart rate moving up but I wasn't feeling like death immediately. Second lap came and I was moving past a few people. This lap was still feeling good and so was the first half of the third. Only the first half because I was riding steady at the front of a pack and came into a turn that I knew was, you guessed it - bumpy, but you could still take it at speed. This time when I came in, I almost lost it since my back tire hit a couple bumps and I almost went down. Much to the applause of the on-lookers and fellow riders, I was able to stay upright, but it came at the expense of about five spots. Fortunately, I was able bridge the gap later in the lap and decided to sit in behind some of the riders. There were points where I really wanted to pass but decided to stay content just sitting in. And then I got impatient and decided to pass since we were close enough to the next pack that I could put in a little surge and bridge the gap. Since I had been running the barriers well all day I decided to wait until one of those sections to make my move. I could see the next group ahead, thought about running the barriers and putting in a grind on the following flats and catch them by the turn. This all worked out nicely in my head. The problem was that becoming exhausted, combined with being overly anxious doesn't work out so well. As I was dismounting, my foot didn't come out of the pedal and I face planted. Just like I was diving into home plate. I was safe from everything but embarrassment. I'm sure it was comical to watch, and while I didn't get hurt, not only did I not catch the next group, but I also let the following group by me. The good news is that I passed some of those guys back later in the race but the damage was done and I was just happy picking off anyone as I could. By the time the race finished I was pretty much cooked. I had no idea how I placed but figured it was pretty far back given my two bobbles. As it turned out, I was 40 out of 70. Not nearly as bad as I expected, but that also made the 10 or so spots that I lost on the bobbles suck that much more.

I can tell I'm starting to get some of my fitness back and briefly considered testing it again on Sunday, but with the temps getting in the mid-80s I decided it was too warm. Instead I settled for watching a Packers victory. I'm not certain I'll be able to race this coming weekend which just makes me look forward to two weeks from now when I'll be able to get out there again. The fitness will keep coming around and I'm sure my leg strength will keep getting better. And as it does, I'll be hoping for a finish in the top half of the field.