Hopkins Park CX

Sunday was my first attempt at cyclocross - total blast, but unfortunately another race that I entered with little training.  I was hoping to ride the 4B with all of the other cross newbies, but was forced to enter into the Masters 30+ with all of the registration filled for the 4B's - translation - I got my butt kicked.

It was a beautifully crisp fall day - temp was in the high 40's / low 50's.  I got to Hopkins just in time to watch the Masters 40+ take off (the race immediately preceding mine).  Everyone was excited about the ominous flyover, and it lived up to its expectations.  After riding the course the day before, it was nice to watch others at race speed.

In the starting pen, I realized my flat bars screamed "newbie," but who cares - it's a great crowd and everyone is out for a fun time.  Criteriums are way more "serious" than cross races, so I didn't feel so bad.  Plus - when a guy riding a flat bar fixed gear is in the top 10 in the series standings, I felt encouraged that my steed was a form of rebellion...though not quite as good as some of the bikes that must have been 40+ years old. 

We rolled up to the starting line, got some pre-race instructions, and we were off.  The start was two wide 180 degree turns, followed by a funnel down to two-wide racing.  To say the least, we bunched up quick and I came to a complete stop on a couple of occasions in the first quarter mile.  The first set of barriers was about 400-600m into the race in a very narrow trail, and it was just a swarm of people hopping off their bikes and trying not to get pushed off the course into the brush. 

I fell way back pretty quick thanks to my horrid conditioning (rode once in the month prior), which was perfectly ok with me when I got to the flyover the first time - much nicer to get over it without all of the congestion.  The flyover was packed with other people in some of the other races - a huge group of the 4B's was standing and waiting for the people in front of them to clear out.  Thankfully I didn't have that problem  in the masters race...

Coming down the flyover (protecting my future children from the blunt impact)

After the first lap I was sufficiently exhausted, but it was so much fun.  Apparently there's a whole art to heckling in cyclocross.  My buddy Arik informed that I would go faster if my legs were shaved...  His heckling was weak, but at least it was personalized!  Unfortunately my uncle overheard Arik's heckling, and decided to jump in with a little bit of his own. 

Hey Arik - payback sucks.

I'll definitely be doing this again...and next time I'll do it in the 4B's so I can actually race against some people!  I'll be at the Campton CX on Halloween - debating about an outfit....

Huge thanks to North Central Cyclery and Half Acre for all of the hours of planning.  I had the privilege of helping a small bit (big props to Josh, Chris, and Tobie for their hours of work), and I have to admit that a race is much more satisfying when you helped in the setup and teardown.  I highly recommend it to others for future races - don't just be a participant - get involved.

NCC/HAC Setup Crew