So I completed my first cyclocross race this past weekend, actually 2 races since I raced on both Saturday and Sunday. I have to say it was a great experience for me and I know that by continuing to practice not only will I get better but my bike handling skills will improve and I think my road racing will improve. What was really interesting to witness while racing is that a lot of these athletes don't have the endurance, they last 2 or 3 laps but if you have to do a 4th they are crumbling and you can hear them a mile a way. This worked in my advantage because since this was my first race ever and I hadn't accumulated any points for other races I was in the very last row to start. Out of 97 women on day 1 and 90 on day 2 it really sucked. However, passing 25-30 women and not getting passed by anyone was exciting. I always kept saying to myself, " If only they could let us ride another 2 or 3 laps, I'd pass everyone". Anyway, the experience was great, I definitely need to get some " Proper" cycling tops and gear, showing up in Tri Gear is not " Cool", so said my friend who works at Craft- he threw me a cycling jersey to wear because my tri top was unacceptable. It was so funny.
What I will say is that on sunday my race mojo sort of came back. Now, I wasn't racing this race to win it, you really can't when you starting in 97 th position, however, as the race was going on I had one woman who was behind me and she had fans on the sidelines who kept screaming her name, on our last lap I heard them say, " Rebecca you can get her, you got her, pass her", I can honestly say ( as we were vying for an amazing 62nd place overall-hee hee) I said, " %$#@ no your not, to hell you are- I said this sort of loudly, then I put on the gas and since she was one of the heavy breathers out there I knew she didn't have anything left so I just took off and left her in the dust and with the final turn to the finish was a nice hill climb she didn't even come close. Bye, Rebecca. OOOOOH that was so much fun. It was great to get the fire and to work hard and love something again for purely the sport of it. Now don't get me wrong, I love triathlons but I need to find that love again, to race with a purpose, to race with that sort of fire I had this past sunday. I have a feeling this year is going to be different for me, I think this year I'm going to be different.
Anyway, I hope to do another Cyclocross race at the end of this month, hopefully it will be first come, first serve at the line so I can see what I can do up against those amazing ladies. This is fun, I hope some of you get a chance to try it.
No comments:
Post a Comment