That was it. Everything I had left was laid out on the course yesterday for the Minnesota State CX Champs. Right now, I’m enjoying the first Sunday of sleeping in and a big batch of home made crepes for breakfast in a loooong time and it feels good. I’ve certainly earned it.

Yesterday dawned cloudy with light flurries and the temps right at freezing. I was hoping for an extra 5-10 degrees, but no luck. I got my upgrade to Cat 3 early this week, so I would be racing the second B wave at 12:35. I showed up early to register, get dressed and pre-ride. The course was much different than in the past. Lots of turns on grassy sections, bumpy-uneven grass in other parts, off-camber turns, a little bit of gravel, singletrack, and the ever (in)famous stairs. I was layered up to keep warm, but still not feeling 100% great. Back to the car to relax for a few minutes before hopping on the trainer, which I knew would be key to getting and staying warm before our start.

By the time they staged us, we were a bit behind schedule, but I was feeling better and hoping for some sunlight to open up. Strangely, the official never said “racers ready” so when the whistle blew, I (and many others) still had two feet on the ground. Not a great way to start, but I settled in mid-way through the pack of 60-70.

After three laps, I had moved up somewhere near 12th and was slowly gaining on the two riders in front of me and feeling okay. The next time I saw the lap card, though, we still had 5 to go! What? I was already 23 minutes into a 45 minute race and I’m not even half-done with the distance? One lap later, going up the stairs, my legs starting cramping bad from the cold and the effort and I knew I was in trouble. I resettled into a slightly easier rhythm for a bit, hoping I would recover before the guys behind me did. Wasn’t to be, though, and with two laps to go, I had four guys come back on me and pass and I had nothing left to stay on it.

Bell lap was a joyous sound. Even more joyous was FPA screaming at me to ride the last lap of the season like it was all I had to do. The timing was perfect because I was about to lose another position, but that war cry (if you haven’t heard it, you’ll have to believe me) was what I needed to put it down one last time. I rolled across the line after 53 minutes and was ready to collapse. According to the HR monitor, it was among the hardest efforts all year–175 ave with a 182 max.

The initial results sheet said I was 19th overall, but no clue as to where in the Cat 3 since they weren’t complete. As I looked closer, I could see that they had at least one rider place in front of me who I was almost lapping, so I’m guessing I was closer to 16th overall, which could be top 10 for Cat 3. With the challenging and exhausting week I had at school and home, I’ll take it.

Guy and CJ both had good races too with much better starts–I could see them both ahead of me, but never had what it needed to pull any closer.

Twelve races in nine weeks, almost double what I’ve done in years past. Now it’s time to recover, be lazy for few weeks, and start building again for next year.

andy