Pork Chop Challenge CX

Headed up to St. Cloud on Sunday for my first-ever cyclocross race. I had no idea what to expect, other than 30-minutes of all-out suffering. I was not disappointed in that regard.

Ref called everyone up to the line and I got stuck 2nd row. Race starts and I'm about 10-15 guys back going into the first turn. I passed as many as I could before the first uphill and barrier section. When I went to dismount for the first barrier my legs were so jacked from the start effort that I almost couldn't stand up, let alone clear the barriers. The course then zig-zagged up and down some steep, punchy hills. The mountain bike handling skills definitely helped here, as I passed several people who were having to ride their brakes. It was the uphill barrier sections that killed me. Definitely need to start running some hills and steps (while carrying the bike).

Bell lap, and I really had no idea where I was sitting. I towed a Birchwood guy halfway around the course and he passed me on the first set of barriers. I got on his wheel but ran out of gas on the final uphill barrier. He got me on the line by about 2 seconds for 4th place, but I'll take 5th out of 55 for my first cx race. I was only a minute and some change off the leader. I'm pretty happy with how things went.

I definitely have some areas to work on as far as technique and cx-specific interval training. I also need to figure out who is who in the Cat 4 field so I know who to mark. I hope to get things sorted and dialed in the next few races and then upgrade to Cat 3 before the end of the season for an extra 15-20 minutes of suffering per race. We'll see how it goes.

Photos from www.skinnyski.com