After a super fun DH racing season I injured my back riding with the Grassroots crew up at Crested Butte a few weeks ago. It was a great weekend but has taken me out of hard riding commission for quite a while. I had to skip out on the Dual Slalom race at Hucktober Fest & have been doing everything I can to recover. This includes going to a Chiropractor, Ice, Heat, Ibuprofen & rehab strength training with James Wilson www.bikejames.com.
I am starting to feel strong again & decided to race the 2nd of a local 5 race Cyclocross Series at Long Park.
This race began at 8am Saturday Nov. 5th when it was raining heavily & very cold out. It's not the most fun thing ever but I do these races for training & because I simply like racing my bikes. I race in the A or Expert/Pro class which is a 45 minute race. Mostly road racers or Cross Country MTB riders do the best. I don't ride this type of event & don't train for long distance seated pedaling much.
I go into these events with well managed expectations. Along with not practicing for this I also jokingly ride my Transition Bank a short Jump/Dual Slalom bike. It is very light & being a hard tail it pedals well. It has very versatile geometry & I use it for all types of things. I special ordered a 420mm seat post for it that I run over an inch above the minimum insertion point but still leaves me too low in a poor pedaling position. That is OK because I have fun being able to lean it in the corners or handle it through other more technical sections.
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1. I finished right behind the leader!
2. I did not podium:)
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The real highlight of the day was from Porter. He has done several races & had not made a main event yet. He is only 4 & is one of the youngest out there. A couple of weeks ago we thought he would make it but got taken out in a violent crash down the first straight. It was so traumatic as by the time he got up he saw the rest of his class going down the finish straight. He was balling but still wanted to get on & catch them so he could make it to the main.
Today he looked strong & more confident than ever before. He is not the fastest out of the gate but he saves his energy & is consistent around the entire track. He would slowly pick off riders until he was doing very well at the end of the race. This consistent riding qualified him for the main event & finished 4th overall! We are very proud of his progress & even going back out there after his big crash.
Almost immediately after leaving the race Porter fell asleep in the truck satisfied, holding his trophy...
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You are a Cycle Stud! CX, BMX, FaMX (Just made that up, for Family Cross) Thanks for the kind words about the CX series. You set a new standard in watts to the grass/sand. Look forward to seeing you out there!
ReplyDeleteMike Driver
Livetrainrace.com
mdriver@livetrainrace.com