2011 Schooley Mill Cross Race

There are many things that I like about Belgium...chocolate, for example, or waffles in Antwerp. Yum. Things about Belgium that I would not import.....weather. I know....sacrilegious words to say/think/write/dream when discussing CX. Sleet, snow, temps cold enough to generate frostbite worries....that is CX weather (or so I am told). Well.......It appears that all my quiet sacrifices to the "unseasonably warm and dry weather for November Belgium Gods" paid off this weekend. Having to channel my inner Belgium would (thankfully) have to wait. All those sun salutations completed in the direction of Antwerp while surrounded by Belgium chocolate worked well.

Schooley Mill would be my fourth race and my first in the W3/4 field. Schooley Mill is an equestrian center, which translated into a registration area in an actual building with bathrooms and the fear that mud on the course may not really be mud. In the parking lot I saw Margit from Syn-Fit who I would later see win the Cat4 early race with a substantial lead . She described the course as technical without a lot of uphills. Great (said sarcastically). I was able to pre-ride the course twice. For this race there seemed to be more time spent turning than riding straight. There were two sets of barriers, one of which was of an equestrian nature, a set of stairs and several off-camber sections. Only one hill. (note to self: begin petition to US Cycling to require each CX course must have mandatory hills.....lots of them.) Not a lot of mud.

I was happy to race on my new wheels - seeing the benefits of tubular rims, I changed the road tires off of my Zipp 303s.  With only one set of tubular wheels, I followed the advice from the CX clinic in September.....Challenge Limus.....a mud tire that likes pavement.  A huge thanks to SW (refer to older posts for this abbreviation) for gluing them, as well as the race encouragement (and the threat that I would be walking back to DC if my remounting did not improve....really.....).

Our race began a few minutes after noon. I was in the second row and quickly learned the person before me was not the fastest sprinter. The hope of riding off the front was dashed and I spent the first lap trying to get past people, hindered by the turns and my lack of confidence in them. Not long after the start is the first hurdle (literally) - a block of wood long enough to force the field, regardless of height, to take a few steps on top of the structure to get to the other side. As a former step aerobics instructor, this hurdle reminded my of some of the weird nightmares I had.....show up for a class to find my step four feet high and I was unable to teach the class. Now I had to go over the top in cycling shoes carrying a bike and then remount. Times have changed.

After the horse hurdle, the course provided a chance to pass some women on the way to the second barriers. This set worried me the most, since the viewing gallery would be greater and the chances for embarrassment much higher. Added to that, the MC of the event, Bill from CXhairs.com would be adding color commentary. I already calculated that bribery would back fire (i.e. "Hey, Bill. I'll buy you a beer if you only say nice things about me.") since (a) the park was dry and beer was not for sale and (b) sometimes comedic opportunity trumps bribery. I made it over the barriers and remounted without coming to a dead-stop. Progress from last week. No heckling that I heard from Bill.

After a couple of S-turns, the course opened up and provided a chance to sprint out of the saddle, followed the the only hill on the course before a set of stairs. During my pre-ride, I decided to ride up, shoulder the bike and run down and then up the stairs. After remounting the bike, there were a series of off-cambered turns before the paved portion of the course. At the end of the first lap, I was able to gain several spots on the field and found myself sitting 4th or 5th in the race. For the next few laps, Claire, the only junior in the field, stayed on my wheel. At one point, given our age difference, I did think...."so nice to race with my daughter...now how can I drop her?"

Round and round we raced. I did battle at one point with the tape on the downhill before the stairs as I shouldered my bike for the run-up....(apparently my fizik soft bar tap was more than the tape could stand and it reach out and grabbed by handlebars....drat). During this battle, my younger competitor passed me on the stairs, a move I was not able to counter. Luckily, the gap behind us was substantial enough that I only lost one position. On the last lap after the barriers, Claire and Amanda (a co-worker of mine) had a collision and they were in my sights. Sadly, my vision is not the best.....

I ended up on the podium, in 5th.