HVCX

Gotta love the tongue-outta-the-mouth-concentrating-on-not-eating-it-face.

Downing Park in Newburgh, NY overlooking the Hudson River

Perhaps the world's smallest CX fan leaning in to catch the action.

You did well, ABC. Though, I'm sorry you have a horse's ass for a mechanic.

The gear my bike decided to be stuck in.

Not my Halloween costume, I swear.

Today was day two of the Hudson Valley Cyclocross event at Downing Park and my first cross race of my life. To sum things up, it was awesome, it sucked. I loved it, I hated it. When's the next one?

My race would begin at 11am and I knew when I would have to leave my house to make sure I got there with enough time to warm up and survey the course. I ended up leaving late, largely in part due to my inability to escape the confines of my bathroom for more than 5 minutes before needing to return. Once on the road, I grabbed breakfast and a coffee, but was too nervous to swallow it. I got to the park with 30 minutes before starting time, not enough to get a proper warm up. I also learned that pinning my race number to my jersey is much more difficult than fixing it to the front of my xc bike. I got it right on the third try and made it to the start with minutes to spare. I was concerned about my lack of a warmup, but in actuality my heart rate was elevated since the moment I woke up.

It turned out that the thing I was most nervous about during the race itself was one of the things that ended up not only being a blast, but an area where I excelled in. I'm talking about the barriers. The first one came as a total surprise since I was within the pack on a fast straight when all the sudden I was upon it. It amazed me how poorly many of the riders handled their bikes on the sharp corners. I guess anyone with an mtb background has an immediate advantage over the dedicated roadies. I not only overtook riders on the barriers with my smooth and efficient dismounts and mounts, but also in the corners. I didn't even come close to crashing the whole race! ABC and I were rocking it... until disaster struck.

On lap 2, I noticed the indexing on my shifter was off and my chain couldn't decide what cog it wanted to be on. I struggled with it for half a lap, searching for gears while riders caught and passed me. When I had gotten frustrated enough, I pulled off and gave the barrel adjuster a couple turns, thinking maybe it got bumped somehow. Back on the bike and another half lap later, the real problem revealed itself when I lost my shifting altogether and my derailleur settled into its most relaxed position over my smallest cog. What actually happened was my cable pinch bolt lost its death grip on my shifter cable. I'm mystified by how it came loose, perhaps sabotage, but this was no time to ponder the wonders of the universe. I was in a race and since Goonies never say die, I needed to keep moving forward.

I loved riding my singlespeed xc bike all season long and the thought of ss cx is not unheard of. What IS unheard of is choosing 42:12 gearing to do so. I did my best to power through the sections of the course that were either level or downhill, which included both barriers, super twisty off-camber turns, and the stairs. ABC and I were flying at these times and no one could catch us. I overtook riders on each lap in these sections, but was left helpless on the climbs as I had to dismount and run as I slowly got passed by more riders than I could catch. To all of you who cheered louder, clapped harder, rang those cowbells more vigorously and ran beside me as I shouldered my bike, I love you. Thank you. Your encouragement made it impossible to give up.

My overall goal for the day changed from finishing in the top half of the field, to not getting lapped, to not coming in last. The leaders went by me as I completed my second to last lap. I succeeded in only the last of the three goals, but barely. After the race, I felt every emotion possible all at once: joy and pain, elation and frustration, thirst and satiation, alive and dead. It was the greatest racing experience I've ever had. Cross involves a combination of all the disciplines I enjoy most in cycling. It's no wonder that this has become an immediate favorite.