1) There wasn't a crash at the start. I did freak out a little going around the track when the pack started coming together. Cyclesmart has left mental scars on me. I think it's going to be a long time before I'm anything but cowardly off the line.
2) The announcer narrated my trip to registration. It felt super pro, but I think someone willingly handing a live microphone to McKittrick might be a sign of the apocalypse. Stock up on dry good folks.
3) Results? Why? This isn't the Verge series, it's not like anyone's keeping track of this. There were no series points to earn, and the money didn't go nearly as deep as it needed to go for me to have a shot at it. My goal was to test the legs and get a good workout, which is much easier than trying to get top 25 in a stacked field. Easy goals = fun.
4) Strategy? Why. This isn't a Verge race, we're here for a workout. It's more fun to attack the course at your own pace than it is to sit in a slipstream and stare at someone's lycra-clad ass. Passing is more fun than conserving. I pretty did much all the pulling. I wanted to be out in front. This was awesome until the last two laps when the gentleman's slide started. At that point I may have wished I conserved a little bit more early on.
5) I crashed! It was my own fault! There was no one to blame. It was awesome.
6) New dudes! The field was a diverse mix. Lots of masters, lots of Cat3s. Lots of people I've never raced against before. My crossresults.com page has a whole row of new skulls this week. Pretty badass.
gorilla prefer subtropical forest, but gorilla like Shedd Park too. (photo: Jeff)
New Feature!
From now on I'm going to guess how many crossresults points I think I earned in my race, before they are computationaled over at the interweb. Which is slower? Crossresults code or my race report posting? How many times do I have to mention crossresults before it's ok to mock crossresults? Crossresults is going to get the squirt gun show bump today. It's a negative bump.
Anyway, 304. The field was fast, and I placed well, but I think the lack of a cyclocross world kit* may have cost me a few points. I want to say maybe 308, but I felt really fast and made some good moves in the first 45 minutes. My guesses would probably be more accurate if I knew how that number was computed.
*not the one Brian Wilichoski wore while he whooped my ass, the black and green one.
Strangely enough, no one else wanted to announce races; actually neither did I.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I do that I have a new found appreciation for Richard Fries.