My new friend, pain....

This past weekend was the start of cyclocross for me. I decided to race the Omaha CX Weekend at Swanson Park in Bellevue, NE. This race, last year, was my first taste of cyclocross and after that weekend, I was hooked. Cross is definitely a form of racing that you either love it or hate it. Thankfully I fall into the former category.

Coming off a good road and mountain bike season I was stoked for some big hurt. My plan was to race the 3/4 race and the 4's race both days, with only an hour rest between the two races. Up to this point I haven't really done 2 races in any given day and was wondering how it would play out. The first race on Saturday, the 3/4 race, was at noon. I made sure I had plenty of rest and nutrition the day before. The plan was to save most of my energy for the 4's race and ride the 3/4 just at my max. Well, things never work out like I plan. I pushed it way too hard at the start, during the first 2 laps I wanted to hurl. Then everything started coming together, except for a real sharp turnaround in the maze where I took it too fast every time and kept going down. Of which also earned me a nice little grass burn on my knee. Ending up 12 out of 18. The end of the first race, breakfast was vying for a chance to see the light of day again. So, it was a nice easy ride to get everything back under control.

Now I had one hour to recover as best I could. Gatorade, protein bar, banana, and apple. They seemed to really help out and I was ready for the 4's race. I was in much better control this time around, only going down once in the maze. Everything seemed to flow with greater ease, but I was sure as heck sick of that freaking hill by the entrance we had to climb every time. Halfway through the first race I hated that damn thing and I know I wasn't the only one. I finished the second race 5 out of 13. Personally I was really pleased with my performance, I can definitely feel a large improvement over last year.

It was off to home to get some food and rest because Sunday had us starting at 9am and I was going to do two races again. The first race on Sunday, I felt much stronger and confident than the day before. Again I didn't want to go to hard on the first race but that didn't work out. Ended up with a better finish this time. 5 out of 15. This time I didn't feel like vomiting after the race. Took it easy and ate the same recovery food as before. One hour later we were off again. This time I could feel all my reserves being used up. Halfway through I could only maintain, not go any harder. It was beginning to feel rather uncomfortable but I kept it up. Then at the start of the bell lap, I go to dismount and run through the sand pit, which I had done with no issues umpteen times before, and could not get my left foot unclipped and took a gainer into the pit. I knew there were 2 people closing in on me and I wasn't going to lose any more ground, so with an expletive shouted I was back up running through with my bike through the pit. Back onto the bike and I found that last little bit of energy to eke out and get some distance on them. Ended up 7 out of 16.

The thing about cross is that you know everyone else is hurting as much as you. There is so little you can do to save energy unlike road or mountain biking. It's an all out effort just short of the gag factor for 30 to 60 minutes at a time. I think that's why I love it so much.

Good job to everyone who was out racing this weekend. Even though it was a tad warm. It was great hanging out with everyone.