It's Alive!

The blog that is. It enjoyed taking a nice nap for the last 4 months or so, but that doesn't mean nothing has happened. I think the last one I did was 'My First Second.' Well, the week after that I got my first first in the mountain bike short track series. And then I quit. Yep, got my first place and hung up the bike. Or at least kind of. We headed up to Aspen for a few days over the 4th of July, then to Driggs, ID for a few days, and then I took a week long trip to Brazil to go to my friend Jamie's wedding where I had a blast. Meanwhile, the temps outside were getting ridiculous and even though mountain biking in the trees helps, there were a lot of days where it was simply too hot to ride. So I didn't and it resulted in a bit of a hiatus from consistent riding, and I'm sure a loss of some of the power I had accumulated. That's not that big of a deal but going into cyclocross season, aka, the best time of the year, it had me a little bit concerned. Last year was my second year (first full season) racing 'cross and was a consistent middle of the pack guy in the Cat 4s. This year I was bumping up to the 35+4s and was mentally prepared to be a good, solid, middle of the pack guy.

In my first race I finished 29th and followed it up with a 28th the next day. Knowing I'd made a few dumb mistakes that were correctable with a little more experience and a few more races, I thought that if I could sneak out a top 20 finish somewhere in the season it would be a success. My best case scenario was a top 15 finish. After a few races I was starting to think that I couldn't finish in a place that wasn't a multiple of 7. The 29th notwithstanding, I was 28, 28, 7, 21, 14. And no, the 7 isn't a typo. I was really happy with that finish despite a lot of the other riders not being there. But since I can't control who shows up to race, it was my 7th and the start of a little bit of confidence. The next day where I finished 21 at AspenLodge was another confidence builder. Prior to then I'd been worried about how everyone around me was riding. Not at this course. It was so bumpy, technical, and just flat out hard that I could only concern myself with my ride and focus on riding clean lines. People would come around me, and just as quickly they'd go backwards. I did have a little trip over the top of my handlebars on one section, but hey, it's all part of the game. Knowing that I could ride well helped push my confidence for the few weeks.

I've gotta say that the rest of my results were a combination of some guys catting up to 3s and clearing out some space on the top of the 4s, but if they're that good then they probably belong there. Either way I was getting stronger and have since gone 14, 9, 10, 13, 6, 3. I was ecstatic with the 14 since it was a solid and legitimate field. Again with the 9. And the 3, well, it was unexpected for sure, but every bit as good as I could have expected and I was able to go by some guys that had been beating me all year.

So what do you when the legs start coming around? Take a break of course. Or at least that's what I did this summer. This time, though, I'm not planning on 2 months of inconsistent riding. Rather, my legs were getting heavy, it was taking longer to recover, and my attitude toward racing was starting to get a bit pissy. With the US Grand Prix of Cyclocross in Ft. Collins this weekend, it would have been easy to race. I love the big events and from what I heard, they did it right and it was a great weekend of racing. However, they helped make my decision by putting the 4s at 8:30 on both Saturday and Sunday, and shortening the race from 45 minutes to 30. Tack on an hour and a half drive to get there and it meant about a 5 a.m. wake up call. If you know anything about me, it's that I don't mix well with mornings. Never have and don't expect that I ever will. Growing up grandma would have to come in to my room a few times to wake me up and after that failed, she'd resort to either a cold, wet washcloth on my face or banging pots and pans together. That's just mean! Anyway, I took a pass on this week, got a massage, and started feeling like a normal human again on Thursday. Of course, the Taco Bell I had last night may have set me back a few days but I digress.

With a bit of life back in my legs the plan is to get a few trainer rides in this week, race twice this weekend, twice next weekend, and then see what I can do at States on the first weekend in December. Hoping for good results at all of the races but nothing's ever guaranteed. With the temps finally starting to drop, the courses are starting to change from grass/dirt crits to sloppy, technical battlegrounds. I don't have as much experience in the latter but there's only one way to get it, and everybody has to race in the same conditions.