MRC Cross

This Sunday, I did my first bike race in 14 months. I hadn't planned on taking this long off of racing. However, with the combination of 12 weeks off for medical reasons and having less time to exercise and train due to Davis' wonderful arrival, I'm just now getting back into cycling.

This weekend, the Minuteman Road Club hosted a cyclocross race in Wrentham. There are a lot of nearby cross races, but we didn't have any plans for Sunday, and if the weather had cooperated, we could have all gone shopping at the outlet malls afterward. However, toward the end of the week, it became clear that the weather would not cooperate (the forecast was for 40 degrees, rain and 18 mph winds) and I would have to go to the race alone.

The race itself was pretty uneventful. I arrived about 80 minutes early, registered, pre-rode the course a few times and sat in the car to keep warm. The weather wasn't as bad as predicted (rain but no wind). I knew right away that the course wouldn't favor me: lots of long sections where power is better than skill. Right now, I have some fitness, good bike handling skills, but not a lot of power so I just aiming to have fun.

About 50 people showed up for the race and I lined up mid-pack for the start. This would be the closest I got to the front. After a few delays for cars on the course, we got started a few minutes after 9. We started on a 100 meter gravel uphill with two sharp lefts onto a grassy section of the course. After a switch back and a long straightaway, there was a log barrier, followed by another grassy switch back section, a set of barriers, single track through the woods and more grass sections. I managed to stay mid-pack until the single track widened enough for people to pass me, then it was just a matter of riding my own race and enjoying the technical challenge of the grassy / muddy corners. I was pretty demoralized to see a lap card with 3 laps to go when I expected 1 to go, but that just meant two more laps to enjoy riding my bike. On the last lap, I was able to take a beer feed -- something I've always said I would do if it was available and I was so far off the back it wouldn't matter. I think I finished about 40th of 50. It was great to finish the race with my teammate cheering "Welcome back John Naegle" when I crossed the line.

After the race, I chatted with my teammate for a few minutes before cleaning up and heading to the outlet malls and Ikea. With the shopping it ended up being a long day and I missed a lot of weekend time with Davis. My next race will probably be in mid-November and hopefully Kristen and Davis can come cheer me on, or pass me beer feeds.