This past Saturday was the cyclocross State Championships, and even though I've been down with a cold for almost all of the past two weeks, I was feeling ready to race. Yeah baby! Last race of the year, last race of my season until late May 2006... gotta make the most of it. Even though it was a bit chilly and windy, it was a great day for racing in December.
I was feeling pretty decent and riding hard, but everyone pulls out all the stops at States, that's for sure. It was at Xilinx, the same joint as two weeks ago, with a slightly different course. This time it routed through the deep-sand volleyball pit, which is not very fun. But since Colorado 'cross is extremely dry compared to racing on the coasts, the promoters feel like they need to throw in whatever they can to worsen the conditions. It's a European sport, with a storied tradition of suffering in the cold and wet, so it's perceived as lame if the course is too dry or easy. Then they figure it's too similar to short-track mountain bike racing. Anyway, bike racers are masochists, there's no way around it. ;-)
Here's me not looking too wrecked:
(props to Beth Jordan for the sweet pix!)
So I busted ass as hard as I could, but could tell from the start that I was wasn't going as well as the last race. My fitness has definitely decreased due to illness and the onset of winter while I was working a very inconvenient shift at work. Damn jobs; why do we have them, anyway? But at least I didn't get passed by the women pros. They usually lap me right at the end of the race, but this time I managed to hold them off.
Is that a smile or a grimace?
I finished 5th in the 35+ category, which then brought me up to 3rd place for the series -- yahoo!! I was very happy. If I hadn't missed one of the races in late October, I might have done even better, but nonetheless I think that's a great finish for me. Cyclocross is very new to me; I only started doing it last year. Next year I'll actually DO the running workouts my coach prescribed for me, and I'll perfect my remount -- yeah! And then maybe I'll be able to haul the mail! ;-)
As I was hanging around with my teammate Cindy (who placed 4th in the series!) while we waited for our prizes, a friend of mine called out, "Hey Marty, you've got a medal over here." I went over to the official's table (these races are run by the American Cycling Association), and sure enough, there was a bronze medal in an envelope that had my name on it. Cool!... but I didn't get it. I came in 5th, not 3rd. The official had to explain to me that two of the women in the top 5 did not hold full ACA racing licenses, so for the State Championships their results are dropped, which moved me into third place. So basically, although I didn't literally earn my 3rd place medal, I got rewarded for kissing the ass of The Establishment, so to speak. ;-) Well, I've got very few tangible items to show off my racing results, so I guess I'll take it and try not to feel like an opportunist. Schwing!
Here's the medal, with Cyclocross Guy in full swing (and my still-dirty bike as the backdrop):
Cheesy, but still... it's a reward for many hours of blood, sweat and gears.
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