Last year I was nervous and clueless going into my first cross race ever, but this year I know more what I am getting into and am psyched to race these crazy things again!
I have been getting a lot of questions about cross: mostly why? or what is it!
A few years ago I watched Adam and friends from group ride do the cross race in St. Charles and always thought, that it looked so fun and wanted to try it, but by the end of tri season was always ready to hang up the bike, or was always focused on just running in the fall. Last year I finally gave it a shot and loved it. I didn't know you could hurt that bad, and have that blood/mental taste in your mouth from just 30 min on the bike. It hurt so bad but was so fun at the same time.
The courses are always different but include barriers, mud and or sand, a few hills or whatever they else the race organizers can find to make it challenging such as a toilet bowl....(a continuous turn that goes around and around itself getting smaller, with a 180 going in the opposite direction to go around and around to come out of it), or BMX jumps! The courses are usually 1 mile or less, and you go around it as hard as you can as many times as you can for the duration of the race. Women's cat 4 is 30 min.
Some skills you need for cyclocross:
>Starts: a fast sprint to find a good position in the front. Sometimes the courses get narrow quickly making it difficult to pass or get around people and yes sometimes there is some bumping going on
>Barriers: dismounting, lifting your bike and running over a barrier and getting back on quickly...they are about 16-18 inches high
>Run ups: sometimes there is a hill so steep or muddy it is easier and faster to get off and run your bike up it then get back on. I always like it when there are some of these on the course because I think my tri fitness gives me a boost.
>Riding through sand: (i'm still learning this one!)and the question is always can I run through it better than riding through!
>Cornering tight: keeping your speed up while going through sharp turns; ie. not braking!
I'm sure there are more, and I am still learning.
You also need: some guts, leave fear and your ego at home crazy stuff can happen like some silly wipe outs and there are hecklers on the sidelines ready to heckle or pass out hand ups of $$, or food. You also need some lungs because you'll be breathing hard
(a little winded!)
I got hooked on it last year because it is a super hard workout, but fun and different. I loved going out and riding off road through dirt and mud to train. Its also great for bike handling skills. The races are a blast; and you start to see and race the same people each week. The atmosphere is fun, laid back, and a little crazy but still competitive..a welcome change from the super focused, serious triathlon world. The Chicago Cross Cup is a series, that you score points in each week. You can keep accumulating points each week and the series itself becomes a race and new type of challenge to accumulate a lot of points.
I'm still going to run some, and do some 5ks, with very little swimming on the schedule. I'll head back to the pool when the time is right and I have my sights on next year. For now, season number 2 is about to begin!
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