DCCX and KinderKross

DCCX

DCCX is the only CX race in the District of Columbia. The race is perhaps the largest one in the area, drawing pros and "just let me finish" racers alike. This would be my first race.

All the pearls of wisdom I learned from my CX clinic with J-Pow, Chris Mayhew, Phat Mark, and Dan Tilly was a fuzzy memory. Despite looking at Bill's (In the CX Hairs) video of the clinic, muscle memory was long gone and I had to hope that I remembered
(a) that barriers existed
(b) how to remount the bike
(c) that drafting in CX is not desired and
(d) that riding off the front, if possible, would be a good idea.

After pre-riding the course with my secret weapon (SW for short...translation: someone who can read a course, figure out tire pressure, and give me a leg up on the the field), I reluctantly and nervously went to the line.

I recognized a couple of women from road racing - Margit from Syn-Fit, Amy from ABRT, and I have raced against each other many times, although on asphalt. Starting in the second row, the person who should be in front of me was not there. Yipppeeeee. A clear shot. The whistle blew, and we were off. I moved to the front. Was third for the hole shot. Accelerated. Had a gap on the field....thinking....yea, baby. DCCX podium here I come......when I hit some mud and went flying. The front of the pack caught me and I was able to remount and stay with them. Around a slight uphill corner, someone slowed A LOT and I had no where to go but down. I took someone out with me (always nice to have company....sorry Sunny!) and was off the main pack.

I spent the rest of the race swapping places with Amy and we ended up 8th and 9th (I was the latter). I thought I was about 20th....so 9th was a mixed blessing.

KinderKross

After DCCX, I was excited to try remaining more upright on my bike. My race was later in the day. After watching the earlier races and seeing the mud....from peanut butter to standing water muddle puddle that would delight children....if it was not in the 40s.....I was more than nervous.

SW raced a couple of hours before me and dissected the course for me while I was warming up on the trainer (too muddy to pre-ride and remain dry). At this time, I had clincher wheels, requiring a higher tire pressure, something less than desirable (I learned) for mud. When I looked my bike, she had a different wheel - tubular Zipp 303 front. I wondered why SW asked, "How often do you brake?" I (later) learned that the tire pressure in the rear Zipp (clincher) was, well, rather low. No brakes, little air - I would either win or flat or perhaps ride off the course due to lack of braking power.....

The course had four technical sections: off-cambered serpentine muddy section, barriers, muddy uphill, and a muddy ocean. What to ride and what to run? Since my remounting is highly inefficient, I wanted to ride as much as possible....

The women's fields raced at (almost) the same time. The Cat 1/2/3 women, then a minute later Cat 3/4 women and, finally, a minute after that, my race. I started well, won the hole shot, had a gap on the field and tried to calm my nerves. I tried to ride the off-cambered part but dismounted on the last part. Note to self: run it the next time.

The next challenge would be the barriers.....##@*%%^ are my thoughts about my remounting. Perhaps learning to ride them would be easier (yes, I am that bad). I lost time on each and every remount....ugh.....

The uphill muddy part was fine and I readied for the mud lake. As I came to it, I followed the line suggested by SW - left. The first time through was....COLD!! The drivetrain was coated in mud.....and spectators soaked (ok, that part was really fun). I had a nice lead and did my best to lose it.....a couple of crashes for no reason....but I was lucky and I ended up crossing the line in first place.

CX and mud.....perfect complements....