So, Saturday was my first ever cross race -- the C race at the Ed Sander cross race.
I knew going in that my fitness was decent but that my challenge would be on the technique front. On the fitness side, I had done alot of TT training recently and my decent Boonsboro TT result showed me my threshold power was where I needed it to be -- and I had done some VO2max workouts in the last couple of weeks so my supra-threshold had not been completely neglected (important for cross!). On the technique side, I do not ride my mountain bike at all; I do a fair amount of dirt road riding on the cross bike, but no single-track stuff. I have done no practice of dismounts/remounts this year. The last time I'd practiced any cross was a year ago, when Chicken took me out to Lake Fairfax and I bit it so bad at one point that I ended up with what was probably a bruised rib. Also, I have lots of problems getting into my Time ATAC pedals for some reason (plan to switch them out sometime soon since this just won't work for cross). Basically, I'm pretty much a technique disaster zone. Kinda like a dirt version of Squirrel! ;) (Sorry Squirrel, I couldn't resist.)
Before the race, Brian Hall was kind enough to take me on a lap of the course and give me some pointers. I was happy to find that the course had very little in terms of technical challenges. Only one set of barriers, one run up, and 2 steep downhill bits. Other than that, mostly flat grass or dirt trails. So I was pretty relaxed that the race would play more towards my fitness vs my lack of technique. Chicken gave me some pointers and encouragement before the start, and all was good. We had 30 starters.
Race started on pavement and when we turned onto the grass I was in 4th or 5th place, right where Chicken had told me to be. In the first hundred yards of the off-road, there were a couple of truck wheel tracks filled with mud. For some reason I tried to change my line just as we hit this section, and sure enough I started sliding off-track and RIGHT TOWARDS A BIG POND! Luckily I unclipped and braked in time to not take a swim, which was a good thing in terms of my race aspirations and even more importantly from an embarrassment perspective (since this was right in front of everybody by the start/finish)!! I got back in line and I was in 9th place or so, still a decent position, and having avoided turning this into my first ever triathlon.
We moved along and I passed 1 or 2 people and we were on a grass section. This was a fast, non-technical section, just barrel along and zig-zag back and forth through a field. We were definitely pushing it but I could start feeling myself settle in. We were still only 3-4 mins into the race, and I looked up for a split-second to see where I was in relation to everyone else. BAM!! -- next thing I know, I'm on the ground (in the bushes), facing up to the beautiful blue sky, with my bike 15 feet ahead of me (also in the bushes), and, most importantly, with a massive massive pain between my legs!!! As far as I can tell in post-race accident reconstruction, I hit a pothole that was hidden in the grass (I never saw the pothole on any subsequent laps), and proceeded to do a full endo, making sure to impact my ankles, shins, thighs, and you-know-what on my way over the bars. I also almost impaled myself on a branch during my soft landing in the bushes, so I ended up with a nice mark of Zorro on my torso.
So, I laid there in the bushes for a good 30 seconds or so, as the racers passed me by with looks of concern and lots of "Are you ok?" queries. I slowly got up, retrieved my bike from its resting place in the bushes, and leaned over it for another 30 seconds to a minute as I tried to start breathing again and made sure that my manhood was still in my shorts and not laying somewhere in the bushes. By this point the entire group had passed me, so I was in last place, and had lost at least a minute or two to my competition. Somewhat recovered, though still in lots of pain, I remounted (ouch!) and started up again. My visions of a glorious victory dashed, I decided to at least pass a decent amount of people before the race was over.
For the rest of the 1st lap, I passed people whenever possible, and for the 1st half of the 2nd lap I kept on passing people. Finally, I put in a big effort to pass a guy, and then I blew up a bit and he repassed me. I ended up holding this position until the end, and luckily had no other mishaps. I was still in lots of pain at the end, but at least the blood coming from multiple spots on my legs had me looking the part of a 'cross racer :)
Checking the results, I ended up 9th, which I was happy about considering I was in 29th after the crash, but was disappointed in that I realized that without the crash I would've had a shot at the podium.
Oh well, on to bigger and better things next Saturday! Top 3 things I learned from this race: