The 3 peaks looks bloody mental!

I CX!!! A couple of years ago I said I would never do it...and then last year I got talked into it. Now it's my favorite bike-related activity. I've done 3 races this season...at the last race I won the women's Kisscross C race by >23 seconds!


In Feb. I turn 40, but I don't think I will race master's next year, since there is no women's master's race, so we all get lumped together. I like that I was the oldest woman in the C field that I won.

We haven't had much mud...yet. It rained a lot this week, so tomorrow's race should be pretty messy, I hope (our soil is really sandy, so we don't get the same sorts of mud potential that some areas get). Not sure how likely it is that I will repeat with another win. A friend of mine hasn't raced all season, but is racing tomorrow. She is REALLY strong. Hopefully I can land in the top 3.

Today was my third cross of the year. I'm slowly but surely figuring some things out. This particular course is the longest in the series at just under 2.5 miles long. Normally we just do four laps on shorter routes but on this one we did three. Nothing real difficult about it, just long. Two barrier sets, a couple woods sections and a few small incline sections with off cambers on them.

Got staged the back at 83rd. As always, you want to be somewhat near the front. Started fine. Found a few sections to blow by a few riders at a time. Barriers must be my thing. I can make up time running them while others are just getting back on the bike. Unless riders are purposely slowing down to save energy. Avoided a few crashes, made up some spots there.

Did manage to swipe a small tree but stayed on the bike so no crashes this time. Although I did smack my shin WALKING over a barrier in pre-ride. LOL. All in all, it was a good ride. It was a homecoming sort of speak for me. This race was my first last year and got 90th out of 93 finishers. This time I got 67 of 93. Slowly but surely moving up.

On the right.

Hi All...living in Iowa and racing CX every weekend I can until the end of our season in mid-December. Having more fun this year...last year I was racing at about 175 pounds....this year around 160 pounds. So, watching nutrition and getting closer to opitmal race weight has paid dividends. Did my first Cat. 3 CX race...I was probably the oldest in the Cat. 3 pack at race age 53, but I wasn't last, so that was good.

A tip.... a couple years ago I fractured my right collar bone in a crit crash...they put in a plate which is still on the bone. For CX racing I now wear a padded Under-Armor type sport t-shirt that is typically worn by American football players under their should pads. So, I just put the padded t-shirt on, and put my jersey over the top. The padding is sufficient to minimize the discomfort when I shoulder my bike, but not so bulky that anyone would probably notice I am wearing it. Another advantage is that it has pads on both rib cages...which will be helpful should I slide out on a corner (which I've done more than once). I bought this at Scheel's Sporting Goods Store...they had several styles, and I chose one that was both moderately priced and moderately padded.

Good luck with your CX races this season!

So...today was race #4 for me. Arrived and did a pre ride of the course. This was the most challenging of all four I have done. Long slow risers and many off camber 180 turns. Throw in some short steep rises in those off cambers and you have some fun brewing. Got staged 70th. Going down the main straight I see quite a few riders passing me. Must be in the wrong gear at the starts. Got to the first sweeping turn and a bottleneck developed. I swung wide and hammered for a short burst and passed 10-20 riders. That felt good. Group bottleneck again at the base of a climb due to a crash. Immediately I jump off the bike and ran. Gained on 3-5 more. Cool. Between there and the before the finish of the first lap, a few reeled me back in and I'm back 5-9 riders I passed earlier.

Then came the three off camber 180 steep sections. I took it too slow to begin with. I got through two and then seen a crash ahead of me. Again, I jumped off and ran. Gained 3-5 spots. I'm thinking "great, keep running". Problem was the section went downhill and I lost all rhythm and fell in to the course tape. No problem, it happens. Get up and start riding. Realize my chain is off the rings. Stop and put it back on. Took 30 seconds to do so. Unfortunately, 15-25 riders got by me at this time.

Now, I'm thinking I'm about in 90th position. Great. So I get on myself and take half a lap at pity speed. Got heckled "this is a race not group ride!". Got angry and chipped away. Did manage to run into the course tape one more time for good measure. This time the course stake got wedged between my crank arm and frame. Took another 20 seconds to get out. Not I'm feeling bummed. Rode the rest of the course and finally finished. Waited at the line to see how many riders cross after me. I counted 7. So I'm thinking high 80's or low 90's. Got home and checked the results. 67th. I was ecstatic. Funny thing is, I got 67th last week too. Moral of the story...Don't EVER give up, EVER. You never know what may happen.

I just love cross.




Thanks to Jeff Golden for the two bottom pics.

Here is a VERY nice video from the race I raced in Canby, OR a week ago...I am in the video about the one minute mark...

As soon as I seen it was done by Burk Webb, I knew it was going to be good. He has a few of these out and they all rule!!

Found a rider video from that race. I am in the black & white kit in front of the camera for most of the lap.

http://youtu.be/SBdyBvUCfiQ

Race report. Pre rode the course and found the have five small climbs. YES! Since dropping my weight, I feel I climb faster and can definitely run faster than before. Was staged 68th of 89. Started ok. Got caught on the wrong side of a bottleneck and lots of riders went by me. Reminded myself, stay with it. Don't give up. Slowly started picking them off. Most of that came on the climbs and whenever running with the bike was needed. There was one hill that you had to right turn into it and dismount to clear a barrier and run / carry your bike up. I got a "nice job" comment from the hecklers for running past a rider who was ten feet ahead of me on the hill. Thought I would place 67th again for the third week in a row. Was stoked to learn I got 53 of 89. My stretch goal for this season was to crack 50 once. Getting closer. Moral of the story, don't EVER give up. You never know what may happen.

I LOVE this crazy sport.