Hallowed Cross

I haven’t had any days in recent memory as perfect as this fall All Hallow’s Eve day of racing. It might have been having my family there to support and getting the chance to watch my son race his second bike/cross race ever. It might have been the teammates and friends surrounding a full day of this fall festivus. It might have been the spirited costumes that reminded all of us that it’s all about having a good time. Or it might have been about a course that I truly enjoyed the heck out of. I’m 50 years old. 50 pounds overweight and at least a couple minutes a lap out of any chance of finishing with the leaders. Why do I continue to put myself through this? Because…

Don’t Be So Cross

I raced cyclocross this past Sunday. Actually, I raced twice. Neither of the results were very memorable. I might even add they were quite forgettable. It’s been a year since my last race and shoulder injury, and going into these races my initial goal was to get a feel for racing again and just gain some confidence . By the end of the first race I was more angry than confident. I had started at the very back of approximately 100 riders and soon enough I had managed to get past a group of riders. Unfortunately, after a miscalculation I went down and was passed by the same group of 10-15 guys. As I wrestled to free myself of plastic route ribbon and recenter my rotated brake lever the last guy in the group passed me and shouted a parting remark, “You’re last now!”