I was not really looking forward to writing this post after a somewhat miserable weekend in Kansas City for cross nationals. After the previous week's good performances and improving fitness I allowed myself a little confidence going into the final big show of the season......unfortunately Mother Nature had plans to put me in my place.
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We left Wednesday on the long drive West and stopped in St Louis to visit Cara's family which included a trip to the hospital to see her sister and 2 day old niece. Thursday we completed the drive over to KC. When we arrived at the venue we got to pre-ride the course in beautiful mud. It was great and I had a blast riding 4 or 5 laps in slow, energy sucking mud. I loved it. No joke. In fact I honestly thought that if we had those conditions for my age group race I would have had no trouble at all getting on the podium...unfortunately the weather report called for frigid temperatures and a snow storm Friday night and Saturday. For Cara's race on Friday the course was still awesome....a bit more frozen and slippery than Thursday, but still good. She rode well to 11th in her master's event......that night came even lower temperatures and snow.
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For my race Saturday the temp was about 21 degrees and the course was covered in rock hard slippery, icy ruts....on top of that was about 2 inches of snow....and it was still coming down. I didn't know exactly how the course would "feel", so I just warmed up and hoped for the best. I had a front row call up and managed a really good start (for me) and was able to stay ahead of a huge pile up in the first turn. I was 6th or 7th heading out onto the course.....then we hit the ice. I was riding, but 2/3 of my energy went into keeping the bike upright as opposed to going forward....riders were passing me and I was terrified. Give me mud, even snow, but ice and I have had a very unhappy relationship for years....going all the way back to 2004 when I broke my leg quite badly falling on black ice while working as a messenger in Philly (that is a whole other story).....since then I can't seem to get the nerve to ride fast on ice.....I just ride scared... which is what I did Saturday. I watched riders pass me, then crash, get up and pass me again. I actually managed not to crash until about half way in ..then I had two or three falls that were pretty hard. After a rider right in front of me slid face first into a metal pole...and I was already out of the top 20.....I turned off the gas and just rode in survival mode to finish. I was disappointed to say the least...and was not even physically tired. Kudos to the guys at the front ...they had the fitness AND the skill needed on this course.
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Sunday was the elite race, and while it was still cold (below 30), the sun was out. I decided that today I was going to have fun....no pressure for results, just ride in the mud (it was still very icy, but much more rideable and faster than Saturday)....until someone tells me to stop. I was #41 on the starting grid out of about 160 registered...and I managed a great start again. I was maybe 25th going onto the course. The last few years I have second guessed my participation in the elite race at nats. I am usually somewhere between 30th and 50th...a bit better than the middle, but not much. I have made it to the end on a bunch of occasions and have been pulled just as many times....but regardless of results, being part of the big show at nationals is just too much fun to pass up. It is unlike any other cycling event I know of....so many fans screaming at you....either heckling or encouraging....and as opposed to a road race, you are actually going slow enough to hear everything they say....and it is a blast. This race was no different, and the crazy icy, muddy difficulty of the course made all that much more insane. I had a grin on my face from the starting gun to the moment they pulled my sorry butt off the course when the leaders got close to lapping me half way in. On the second lap I had a spectacular crash when my muddy glove slipped of the bars as I was coming out of a nasty gully....Sure it hurt and it took me a while to get untangled from my bike and going again amid the cheers of many witnesses....but I am pretty sure I was laughing out loud the entire time.
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So after some disappointing results, but, none the less, a fun experience, I am already looking forward to next cross season!
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Thanks again to my cross team sponsors! ... and especially Mark Hekman for putting it together....
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a2
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