After my race in Whistler my coach said that some cycling racing could be beneficial for me. Since I am not a big fan of road races and all the nasty crashes which happen there all the time and the season is over anyway, I set my mind on cycle cross. This sounds way more fun!

Race 1: SCX #1 Seattle – McCollum Park (Sept 22nd)

BMX track 🙂

IN the 3 weeks without training, I had enough time to find a cross bike. So I was ready to get the season started. Only problem is that the first race which would fit in the schedule was at the end of the first training week. Which definitely would be too much stress for a body who did an Ironman and than 3 weeks of nothing. So my coach allowed me to ride this race “easy” to get some experience for cross cycling. I had lots of fun. It was a great course which even included a BMX track.

I stared at the very end of the Cat 4/5 group and cross the starting line as dead last. I took the first loop easy and than progressively went harder. Even with a moderate effort I started overtaking people. I had so much fun and before long I was riding much harder than I probably should have. I even once went down in the forest on a sharp turn on very loose underground. Hitting the ground wasn’t painful at all, but hitting my knee on the bike was. A rider next to me asked me right away if I was okay which I confirmed. I got up again and off I went. At the end I even participated in a finish sprint battle which I won.

I finished 64 out of 93 (98 started). I was 4:24min behind the first in my category.
Heart Rate: Avg: 141bpm, Max: 173bpm

Learnings: I have a hard time to take it easy

Heart Rate File
Details and course of the race
Results (10:15am spreadsheet)

Race 2: Crosstoberfest 2013 (Oct 19th)

Wonderful foggy landscape 🙂 Thanks Bri for taking pictures!

This was my first actual race. I was lining up in about the 3rd row and because the 35+/45+ were starting behind us some people who had lined up in front of me had to move back. In short, I ended up in the front line. I stayed with the first few on the start sprint but quickly started loosing ground on all the sharp turns. I’m just not used to take corners on muddy ground 3-4 people abreast. Many overtook me including a young boy who’s technique was much better than mine, but I caught him eventually because of my fitness 🙂
The course was much different than my first race. Many places were single trail and had some challenging places as prooven by the guy who broke his collar bone. I saw many people go down. Most of them on the wet street. I was maybe overly cautious for the turns on the street but if I was going to fall it was NOT on the street. Note: Grass is much softer. The course also included a volleyball sandpit which we had to cross twice. I managed to do the whole race without falling and even rode through the sand pit every time without having to get off the bike.

Jumping the obstacles. Thanks Bri for capturing this.

My friend Gavin started in the wave 30seconds behind me. But on the second lap he was already on my tail. Much to the amusement of my girlfriend. She obviously had to encourage him to kick my butt. Which needless to say he did. But at least I was able to stay with him for almost 2 more laps. At the end of the 2nd lap I noticed the race clock saying that we had 2 more laps to go. Which was a little surprise since I assumed 3 laps but well nothing to change and since I went out hard I was suffering from beginning on anyway. (Note: in cycle cross the number of laps is decided by the time not by distance) The most challenging part for me was my sunglasses. Because of the fog I was seeing less and less of the course which made the downhill section challenging. At the end I once again had a finish sprint with a guy whom I traded places with on the last 2 laps. I won the sprint but it didn’t matter since he was in a different category.

I finished the race in 34:54 in 13th place in my category. I finished in the top 50% percent. I am pretty happy with that result.
Heart Rate: Avg: 177bpm, Max: 186bpm

Learnings:
I don’t like sand pits. Not because they are hard to ride through, but they are so messy. Sand everywhere in my shoes, jersey, bike (my poor bike). I prefer proper mud 🙂
Don’t start in the front row. Even though the race was still fun it was much more of a struggle throughout the race.

Heart Rate File
Website: search Crosstoberfest Seattle on Facebook 🙂

Race 3: MFG #4 – Magnuson Park Cross (Oct 20th)
Started towards the end of the field since I didn’t have time to inspect the course. I also had learned from my 2nd race. Took first lap moderate since I didn’t know the course. But it was much easier because of all the people there was backlog throughout the various obstacles. There were a few nice long stretches were I started overtaking people even on the first loop without trying too hard.
For the 2nd and 3rd loop I stayed behind the field and just overtook all the people who were starting to fade. At the end of the 3rd loop they showed on the race clock “3 laps to go” which was a shock too me and apparently many around me. I noticed many of them not pushing that hard anymore and I overtook many of them. For the next 3 laps the same pattern would happened I hang on through the obstacles/turns to whoever is in front of me at the time and then on the straight I would overtake many people. Sometimes someone would overtake me through obstacles but I re-overtook them all.

Yeah, 56th. (Yes, I fixed the team name)

I noticed I lost most time when I had to dismount and mount my bike. As a triathlete I’m obviously missing that skill. This course was much faster than previous courses and I reached 24miles/h (40km/h) a couple times on gravel roads which is kinda scary especially if there is a sharp turn at the end.
I definitely think that I am getting better at taking turns on loose and muddy ground. Once more I had a blast, even though there was no finish line sprint battle 🙂

Finisher time was 48:52 which is 3:57 behind the winner according to the results. I finished in 56 out of 108 finishers (119 started). So again right in the top 50% depending on which number is used.
Heart Rate: Avg: 172bpm, Max: 183bpm

Learning:
This was a fast course and I really enjoyed this race there were enough straights to overtake people and I felt like my bike handling is getting better.

Race Website, Race Course
Heart Rate File