I'm back to Cincinnati for two days of UCI racing - for those of you who don't know, accruing UCI points can help me to get a better starting position on the line at nationals and I need all the help I can get! My most awesome teammate Melissa was again kind enough to let me crash at her place, if only to lie there staring at the ceiling all night, since I'm an insomniac. Also, I have to give huge thanks to Lou at the Pony Shop for setting me up on a super awesome set of Zipp 'cross tubulars on short notice - they are the BOMB.
Saturday's race, JavaJohnny's Lionhearts Cross was held in Middletown, OH, not far from Cincinnati. While Melissa and I arrived plenty early, there wasn't time to actually pre-ride and thoroughly inspect the course before the Elite Women's race started. I toed the line basically clueless about what I was seconds away from doing. What I did know was that conditions were dry, the course had a set of barriers, some off-camber sections, a small amount of pavement and a large sand pit that required a dismount and run for the mere mortals. Katie Compton (current US National champ and World's Silver medalist) was able to get through the sand entirely on the bike but I'm not sure that was necessarily faster. It was, however, impressive.
My Kenda teammate Catherine Walberg (a current masters national 'cross champion) was there representing. Because I am literally a no-one when it comes to the 'cross universe, my starting position in the back row wasn't much help in getting to the first turn in good position, nor did it help when I was forced to clip out in the first hairpin turn around a tree when the field slowed. At that point it was clear that I was racing for a top 10 place and that's about it. Things got strung out pretty quickly from the start and I basically fell into the rhythm that my legs could tolerate - though I was in no way really burying myself. Someone got a really "nice" pic of me stuck in the sand pit - at that point I was pretty much laughing at myself and Melissa who was standing there with a stupid cowbell and yelling at me. I couldn't get through that whole ordeal fast enough and I was thoroughly relieved when it was finally over. Adding insult to the day was the wise-ass announcer who took to calling me Debbie "eat my" Dust...
I ended up in 9th position - really, not very good but all things considered (lack of a pre-ride, no sleep, 5 hours in the car) I suppose it could have been worse. I got some UCI points, a little money and at least I didn't break a nail or get any more bruises on my battered legs...
Saturday's race, JavaJohnny's Lionhearts Cross was held in Middletown, OH, not far from Cincinnati. While Melissa and I arrived plenty early, there wasn't time to actually pre-ride and thoroughly inspect the course before the Elite Women's race started. I toed the line basically clueless about what I was seconds away from doing. What I did know was that conditions were dry, the course had a set of barriers, some off-camber sections, a small amount of pavement and a large sand pit that required a dismount and run for the mere mortals. Katie Compton (current US National champ and World's Silver medalist) was able to get through the sand entirely on the bike but I'm not sure that was necessarily faster. It was, however, impressive.
My Kenda teammate Catherine Walberg (a current masters national 'cross champion) was there representing. Because I am literally a no-one when it comes to the 'cross universe, my starting position in the back row wasn't much help in getting to the first turn in good position, nor did it help when I was forced to clip out in the first hairpin turn around a tree when the field slowed. At that point it was clear that I was racing for a top 10 place and that's about it. Things got strung out pretty quickly from the start and I basically fell into the rhythm that my legs could tolerate - though I was in no way really burying myself. Someone got a really "nice" pic of me stuck in the sand pit - at that point I was pretty much laughing at myself and Melissa who was standing there with a stupid cowbell and yelling at me. I couldn't get through that whole ordeal fast enough and I was thoroughly relieved when it was finally over. Adding insult to the day was the wise-ass announcer who took to calling me Debbie "eat my" Dust...
I ended up in 9th position - really, not very good but all things considered (lack of a pre-ride, no sleep, 5 hours in the car) I suppose it could have been worse. I got some UCI points, a little money and at least I didn't break a nail or get any more bruises on my battered legs...
