Cyclocross...Check

No longer am I pure. Yes, I was crossified this past weekend in Frisco (el. 9100') and it was good. Painful but good. Rode up to Frisco with Derek Lauderback, sales monkey at the shop where I wrench. Goal was to just have fun, get a little dirty, and get the heart rate up. Plan successful. Didn't get a uber good starting position but I used my Jedi attacking skills and maneuvered my way up the first section to gain some spots. I knew I would have to drill it each time it hit the pavement climb portion if I was going to make up any positions. Course was pretty technical with a sick short descent through sandy stuff. My cornering got better as the race wore on, usually the opposite since you tire and your handling goes to sh**. Next tough section was the steep runup. Only about 30' but it was atleast 30-35deg and deep soft dirt. Unfortunately, my sick high school running skills were left back in 1998 so I lost a little bit on that spot each time. Carrying a bike and soft, deep dirt is something to work on. So laps went by and the pain continued to rise. Legs felt pretty good and I was always able to keep going harder and pushing past the pain to pick off more riders. The coolest part was dropping everyone in sight on the asphalt climb, about 400m. I guess my roadie skills are helping in the lowest cross category. If i can just work on some handling stuff and improvement my remounts and runs a little bit, i can definitely contend for the win. Finished a respectable 16th on the day out of mid 60 starters. Next race is this Saturday. Just a short 10min ride from the mothership. I probably have an enormous amount of readers following my writing and perhaps a few will be racing in the cat 4s this weekend. I'm going to lay my strategy out. Go as hard as I can in the beginning to stay with the leaders. Once they settle, I'm going to throw in some vicious attacks and try to break them. I know I have the fitness and strength to hang, so if I can just get enough of a gap then i can pick better lines and just power away which should negate my bikehandling setbacks.

Weather should make for a good one...40s rain/snow...dirty is fun =)
Chow,
Matthew