I dressed up as a Cyclocross racer this weekend for the local Crosstober fest races about 2 blocks from my house.
It was a blast and great intensity training for La Ruta. They lined the Cat 1 women up with the Cat 1.2 men, so we got a full 60 minutes of torture both days.
I recorded my efforts on my Suunto T6d and it was really great to compare two identical efforts. I basically came up with the same average and max heart rates, although I raced a bit better on day 2 due to knowing the course a bit better. I usually only cyclocross race a few times a year at my home events, so I’m always a wee bit rusty on the barriers and stuff like that. I love it though and it is great for my bike handling skills.
I got 2nd both days to Liza Rachetto, a pro road racer from Boise. She’d just returned from racing in Europe and jumped into the ‘cross races. Day 1 she went out fast and I never saw her again. Day 2, my plan was to try to stay with her and make it a closer race. It was 34 degrees, wet and muddy. I was able to stay on her from the start. Then she sat on me for a while in typical roadie style. We went back and forth a couple of times during the race. She would pull ahead on the flat, roadie sections of the course and I would pull ahead on the more wooded, mountain bike terrain. It was a super fun race and I was glad to have some stiff competition to push me. In the end, she snagged the Idaho State Championship title, but I was really happy with my training efforts for the weekend and the fact that I stayed upright. It was a blast.
Thanks to Nils Ribi for the action shots, he has been taking shots of me for years
