cyclocross practice wrap-up

A few notes and observations...

1) I NEED to start wearing a heart rate monitor during these practices and keep myself in check; I went a bit too hard at first and had to let up quite a bit to catch my breath and recover. I've been thinking about the subject of how hard at what times during a race one ought to be riding and I have come to somewhat of a conclusion. We'll see if it pans out in the first few races of the season.

2) Everybody else is fast. This makes me feel slow out on the course.

3) Smithers is a machine when it comes to getting in a full workout. Maybe it has something to do with being a parent... Either way, when he sets off to get 45min into his legs, he gets the full 45. He does not let himself take it easy or sit up or quit early; at least this is the way it looks from an outside perspective.

4) The success I achieved learning to remounts sans a stutter-step last week paid dividends this weekend if only in helping me feel less the amateur among fellow racers. I get a bit sloppy once tired, but this didn't seem to affect my momentum too badly -- after all, at that point I was barely moving forward anyway!

5) The practice didn't go particularly well -- I was still toward the back of the pack for much of the practice race. However, it didn't go as badly as I had expected either. It helps to remind myself that some (or all) of these guys are faster than me and that at least some of them race in a category higher than mine. As for category, I'm still undecided whether I ought to race the 4/5 (what used to be C's) or race the 3 (what used to be B's, sort of). The latter race is a 45min format vs. 30min. To be clear, I wouldn't expect to race particularly competitively in the 3's, but at least it wouldn't hurt the ego quite as much to suck if in the higher category. Kidding aside, I'd rather spend $25 on a race that lasted a bit longer but I believe upgrading to a 3 in cross will mean that I'd have to race in 3's races on the road come Spring according to these new formats. I'm pretty sure I'm not fast enough or fit enough to race with the 3's on the road. Who knows... maybe this winter's training will be super awesome and I'll pwn everyone next year. But then again, maybe not.

6) I still excel at the sketchy faster sections. I feel this will work to my advantage to make up where I lack in fitness. This morning's course featured a sharp 180 turn immediately after a long fast downhill. I was riding very well through there as well as on some bumpier sections at the back of the course. Let's keep our fingers crossed that there are still some wusses out there who get sketched out by going fast in loose terrain or when the tires start to slide.

7) I just realized that I'm at point seven and I don't think I have anything left to say. Riding with a pack in a quasi-race format was helpful and will doubtlessly assist me in easing into actual racing. I'll have to figure out how I'm going to maintain some nominal level of fitness while on the road for two weeks at the end of the month; Ped suggested bringing a bike and trainer to ride outside the car in the mornings or mid-drive to shake the legs out a bit. I am thinking this is a good idea but haven't made a decision yet. My first race of the cross season will be on October 4th (my birthday - hooray!); my moms will be in town visiting so we'll teach her to do water bottle hand-ups. Hopefully I don't suck it up!