Last year, after finishing a long season of training, I hung up my bike. I really didnt want to get on it again after Ironman Canada. I did, however, continue running and I thought I might attempt a marathon (without having to swim and bike beforehand, what a concept!). After a couple of weeks of that, I decided I didnt want to continue with that either.
Sooooooooo, at the beginning of October 2008, I got this great idea of stripping my rain bike of its fenders, the bottle cages, and computer and putting cyclocross tires on it with the intention of doing some of the Cross Crusade races. Cyclocross is very popular in the NW and the kids at Cross Crusade put on a great show. I posted an email on the Oregon Bike Racing list asking what category I should race in: Beginners, Clydesdale, C, or Masters C. Various people said Beginners so I signed up for the Alpenrose race as a Beginner, took my converted steed out for a couple rides on the trail near my house, and decided I was ready to race.
My first ever race was Alpenrose, Cross Crusade #1 of the season. It was a 2.1 mile loop around the velodrome and other parts of the dairy. It was also the biggest turn out of all time at a CC race, something 12oo riders all day and over 130 beginners. I finished around 80th, had a blast but after I saw the clydesdales racing, I decided I wanted to ride with the heavy horse!
I did 3 races last year and didnt train a lick between each race. It was not a good idea but doing a 35-45 minute race at very close to my AT took a lot out of me considering how many years I had been doing road triathlon and not going much near AT.
Fast forward a year. October 4, 2009. I revisited Alpenrose Dairy for the 2009 Cross Crusade series. This time, I felt better prepared. Only two short weeks before, I had raced XTerra USA Championships and had been mountain biking most of the summer. Something a little closer to cross racing than Ironman training had been plus I wasnt burnt out from riding my TT bike for hours on end.
This time I entered the Clydesdale class. Last year we max'd out at around 40 guys, this year at Alpenrose, we ended up with 58 starters. I finished in the mid 40's, one lap down from the leaders but I felt great and was passing guys on the last lap. It was a great course for me with a lot of flats and some technical stuff but not a whole lot of climbing.
I was excited because I felt so good and of course I wanted a cross bike afterwards. I had a busy week after that and didnt get to train much. I had one road ride and one 5 km run as well as a stress test that I had to run on the treadmill.
Yesterday I paid for not training. The CC#2 was at Rainer High School and it had a few hills. I dragged Taggy out of bed at 630am and we did some racing. My race lasted 3 laps and after getting passed by the leading Clydesdale, I packed it in. I thought they would give me a DNF but they scored me as dead last (except for the one DNF) and gave me 3 laps (winner had 4).
Taggy and I waited around for his race, ate some fries, watched some racing, and talked to some peeps. He finished his fries, wiped the ketchup from his face, jumped on his bike and did some laps of the kids course. He was having trouble with the barrier given that his bike was abouut 25lb but he was dismounting and getting back on like a champ. When the time came for his race, the kids were given the choice to do a lap of the adult course or a few laps of the kiddie cross circuit. He chose to do a full lap.....
I tried to keep up with him, running alongside but I was beat from my race and I didnt have my ankle brace so I tried to cut the course and see him along the way. I got a video of him coming down a hill and then I ran over to the start/finish so I could help him through the second section of hills. I saw him coming out of the trees, he had a bit of a pout on his face and I could see him covered in dust. I asked him if he crashed, he nodded, almost crying, but then I asked him if he wanted to continue and he nodded again. So, I jogged next to him, helped him over the two barriers, and encouraged him along.
It was time to start the next wave of adults so they had us cut the course, missing the last climbing section, and turned the rest of the kids towards the finish. I gave him a big hug, told him how proud of him I was, and took his picture. One of the adults that was helping out, came over to me and said he had crashed HARD but he got up and finished off. They said he got 10/10 for his crash and that made him smile a little.
Afterwards, we went over to the area he went down and he described his crash. Apparently, a rock got in his way and he washed out his front tire. Right abouut that time, the B's came through and I could see how easy it would be for Taggy to go down right there as it was loose and rocky as well as downhill with a turn at the bottom.
He is looking forward to next week as am I. Oh, and Im getting a new Scott CX Team cross bike next week, so excited.
