To fully comprehend what happened this past weekend, I am going to rewind the calendar to last year. My second 'cross race happened to be at Rockburn. The venue was right next to the Avalon area of Patapsco Valley State Park in Maryland, a place I had mountain biked several times. I had heard great things about the course and was really excited to check it out. In 2015, the beginner women raced with the junior fields, which was not a healthy combination. This race was the first experience I had with "Cross Dads" and what happens when a ten year old has no bike handling skills whatsoever.
The Rockburn course was (and still is) a pretty technical course. There were a lot of off camber corners, some fast, some not so fast. There was a mandatory run-up in the form of a large telephone pole at the bottom of the hill. There was a long singletrack section, while not technical to me, would be to someone who is not a mountain biker. There was an optional log that had a penalty if you chose to go around it. And lastly, there was a long paved climb that was absolutely torture.
This was my first actual "race". There was a woman who raced for Sticky Fingers that I was back and forth with most of the race. She was a power person and I was good on the technical stuff. So I would pass her on the single track and some of the off camber sections and she would get me on the straight sections. And I absolutely fell in LOVE with having someone to race with. In most mountain bike races, I am pretty much by myself. At my first cross race, Ed Sander Memorial Cross, I was in the same place pretty much the whole race.
Having someone to keep me competitive was something completely different. And I loved it. Right until the point where I freaked out on one of the super sharp off camber turns on the back side of the course. I had to get off my bike and walk it. Every lap. And then I met "Cross Dad" for the first time. I had just passed a junior and an adult male yelled at the kid to put me into the tape. What?! We were not even in the same field, why would you tell a kid that?! And then... it happened. A junior that I was about to pass fumbled and came straight across the course and hit my wheel. Unfortunately, the kid went into the tape. I apologized, made sure he was okay, and went along my way. Sure, the kid was fine and did not even hit the ground, but it freaked me out.
Well, I ended up finishing pretty well for my second ever cross race: 12 out of 22. Seven seconds behind the girl that I played leap frog with the whole morning. She totally dropped me on the finishing stretch.
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| 2016 Rockburn CX - Photo Courtesy of Ben Kristy of Dominion Cycling Photography |
This year is a completely different story. Before the Rockburn race on Sunday, I had seven races under my belt already for 2016's cross season. With the exception of two races with mechanical issues, I had top ten finishes every week. I was feeling fairly confident and strong and I remember loving the Rockburn course.
I am still racing on a rigid mountain bike, but I bought a gravel bike a few weeks ago. Drop bars are scary. I have not ridden a drop bar bike regularly since the summer of 2013 and have gotten very much out of practice on drop bar handling skills. But, teammates have been pressuring me to race it for cross. I figured if I did well in the beginner race (Cat 4) that I would race the Warbird (my new gravel bike) in the intermediate race (Cat 3/4).
Unfortunately the beginner race is at the beginning of the day, and I have no photos of the actual race. *sad face*
I started the race with a front row call up even though I am terrible at starts (I can start in the front row, but literally as soon as the whistle blows, more than half the field passes me). The usual chit chat was happening at the start until the officials blew the whistle for the men's beginner race to start. We all kind of quieted down, since we only had a minute between their start and ours.
The whistle blew, and off we went. Up a paved hill to a straight stretch before hitting the hole shot, which is the first turn of the race (usually from pavement onto grass). I have no clue what place I was in, but was trying to pass as many women as I could on the turns towards the sand pit. I was behind a teammate coming into the sand pit and she had an unfortunate fall with another racer. I made sure she was okay as I passed and settled into the straight stretch before the singletrack.
About halfway through the singletrack section, I caught up with a couple of girls. Then Jamie (who won the last week's race) was pulling over. I asked her if she was okay, and she shouted "flat". That was a bummer, I think she could have won this race also. But, that is cross racing, sometimes you have a great race and sometimes you get a flat (or bust your chain like I did two weeks ago at Tacchino).
I kept going and caught up to another friend. I noticed two juniors who were racing in the beginner women's field ahead of us. I told her that they were teenagers and we HAD to beat them, just on principle. I passed her and one of the juniors and kept my sights on the other. (I should add that both girls are very talented and incredible young women.)
I passed the young woman in front of me, but she passed me back. This happened a few times and reminded me very much of last year's race. On my third lap, I put a little distance between us on a gravel climb and was just trying to hold her off when I went by my team's tent. Someone yelled out, "GO GO GO, YOU ARE IN THIRD!" Apparently my reaction was pretty off the charts. I remember yelling "holy shit" and dropping down a gear or two and taking off. The junior's dad commented to me after the race that he saw she was right behind me on the second lap but there was a good gap between us on the third.
I knew I could put more space between us on the technical sections. So I concentrated on not making any mistakes through there and pedaled as hard as I could on the power sections. Coming out of the off camber section towards the officials and the timing arch, I saw the lap counter was at one. I had heard the bell (meaning last lap) about a quarter of my way through my third lap, so I was expecting that to be it. I was not prepared to do a fourth lap and was not sure I could hold the junior off for another two miles. Luckily, about 50 feet from the line, the counter turned to zero. I smiled, mouthed "thank you" at the official as she told me I was third, and probably could have lit up the entire DC metro region with my grin.
My first cyclocross podium! And it was at my favourite course! And I beat a teenager! Woohoo!
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| Women's Cat 4 Podium - 2016 Rockburn CX Photo Credit: Charlie Lewis |
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| "I have no idea what I am doing." Photo Credit: Charlie Lewis |
The sandpit was especially scary, but I made it through with Christine, a fellow Bikenetic teammate) right on my wheel. As the race went on, things got a little less terrifying. In fact, Charlie caught me grinning a couple of times!
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| "This is a little more fun." Photo Credit: Charlie Lewis |
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| "Just riding along, nothing to see here." Photo Credit: Charlie Lewis |
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| "Oh, I have TOTALLY got this!" Photo Credit: Charlie Lewis |
The gearing on my gravel bike is not really all that great for cyclocross. So, with the help of a teammate, I am planning on building one up over the winter so that I will stop getting harassed* for riding "FLAT BARS!"
*and by harassed, I mean lovingly teased by all my bikey friends
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