Joe Gets Hooked on 'Cross

My first go at Cross

This past Sunday I decided to try this thing called cyclocross and entered into the Men’s C (Cat 4) race at the Crossasaurus Awesome race hosted by Philadelphia Ciclismo. In reality I have been aware what cross is, have been a spectator at several races, and have played around on some cross courses by never actually raced in a cross race until Sunday. I have to say the whole experience was pretty awe inspiring. It is one thing to watch a race and imagine how it must feel to be doing it and another to actually do if yourself. This past year I have done many different mountain bike races and cross doesn’t compare. In mountain biking at least you can sort of relax at time and ‘take a break’ during down hills, flat sections, etc, but with a cross race its non stop exertion from start to finish.
This race went pretty well I think for my first go at this type of bike racing. The week prior I spent all of about an hour practicing how to manage barriers and very little time practicing how to maneuver a cross bike, but that’s enough time right? In the end though I felt pretty comfortable handling the bike and my smoothness and efficiency at the barriers will improve with time and practice. My race Cat had 60+ people racing in it which also provided its own unique set of challenges that I wasn’t used to but luckily I didn’t have to many issues with that and the field spread out pretty quickly. I started pretty far back in the pack and tried to make up ground pretty quickly at the start. The ground on the course was very tacky making it a slow and tiring course and did its best to drain all my energy. I was able to hold my ground in the race and finish in the middle of the pack, which I think is respectable for my first cross race. So in the end I finished my first race all in one piece, didn’t have any problems, and actually had some fun in the process. So I guess this is what cross is all about….onto the next cross race!!