Catching Up

The longer I go without posting, the more I have to catch up on, thereby delaying the task further and so on...

So, rather than waiting until I finally sit down to type up and add photos of ALL the highlights of the last months, I'll just fill you in on the latest. 

Last weekend, Ryan and I decided to see what this whole cyclocross bike racing thing is really all about.  We have both bought cyclocross style bikes in the last year or two, rather than standard road bikes, because the riding around here often involves dirt roads, grass, and other non-paved biking opportunities.  The fatter, knobby tires, stiff frames and other features allow riding off-road without the need for the heavy frames and suspension of a mountain bike. 

But the bikes are also designed for racing on a special cyclocross course, which involves all of the following at the very least: riding on grass, dirt, sand, mud; weaving around tight corners; up and down short steep hills; and over barriers, steps or other elements that require a speedy dismount, carrying the bike, and then re-mounting all without losing any momentum (...ideally). 

So you see, it requires lots of specific technical skills - and lots of endurance and strength for all the varying speeds and accelerations.   

None of which I have at the moment.   

And you go around and around the course, getting in as many laps as you can for, say, an hour.

Yet somehow, we thought it would be a good idea to finally give it a try.  We do have the bikes for it afterall.  There's a local series close to home, so we drove up to Dolores, CO for our first ever cyclocross race, convincing ourselves the whole way that we'll just have fun and who cares if we come in last place.

Good thing.

I had not quite yet realized just how niche of a sport this is, and had also somehow forgotten just how serious the cycling community is in SW Colorado.  Between the Fort Lewis College Cycling Team, the Durango Wheel Club, and various other sponsored pros that were at the event, like local biking legend Ned Overend, we were novices to the race by a large margin!


[Side note: Just to give you an idea of what cyclocross really is all about...
During our one practice loop of the course, I struggled up a short steep loose dirt section, where a girl (clearly a cyclist) was standing with her dog, watching the riders come through. 

I asked her, pleadingly, "Any last minute tips for a novice?" 

She replied, "Just go all out.  You should feel like you're going to puke the whole time." 

Well, I definitely felt like I was going to puke the first lap or two (and admit it was probably the gel shot I ate too close to the start of the race rather than an all-out effort), but after that I was definitely not riding hard enough to be pukey... I had easily succumbed to my last place (by a large margin) finish, I had clearly not trained for it, and I had a hard time pushing myself as hard as a true cyclocrosser would have...]

But, we both had fun and though Ryan didn't quite get last, despite his run-in with a low-lying tree branch on a tight corner[ouch], I definitely did come in last, only beating a couple DNF'ers.  BUT AT LEAST WE DID IT!!!  

For some reason, they don't have the results or any video up yet of the race we did, but to get a taste of what the course is like, check out this video someone took at the Cortez race that was the day after ours:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9aQCBSZJKM&feature=youtu.be

{Though we didn't get any pictures of each other racing since we were at the same time, we did get some shots and video of the pros racing after us.  Unfortunately, if I wait until I get those uploaded, this will never get posted.  Hopefully those will follow soon.}

Well, we're off again, this time to San Francisco, where Ryan has an optometry conference.  We've never been, and I'm VERY excited about the trip, especially since I will get to hang out with Megan for a good portion of the trip!!!  We're headed to Yosemite tomorrow, then we'll have a fun week of exploring downtown San Fran, and one day of cycling around wine country before heading home.   Tough life this is...