Raceday! Boy was I tired when I got up this morning. As tired as I was though, the excitement of racing got me right off the mat. I ate three bagels and packed some cereal and granola bars before suiting up and loading my stuff in the car. Amazingly, I was able to navigate myself using handwritten directions from Google Maps without making a single mistake. Leaving the house at 6:30, I made it to Druid Hill Park by 7:30.

I was probably the first non volunteer at the race and they weren't ready for me to check in just yet. I took out my bike and lubed the chain well, then laced up my cycling shoes and went for a ride. They were slowly getting the course set up, so I rode around on the sections they had established to get a feel for what this cyclocross thing was going to be like. I could barely contain my excitement. All the reading on the internet I'd done on the sport was all coming together now seeing the course. What a great idea to put a racecouse for bikes in the middle of a park. I couldn't wait to get racing. I knew this would be fun.

The course had it all as far as I was concerned. And from what everyone else was saying it really was a great course. The start was at the bottom of an asphalt hill. After ascending that short climb, the race went down a fast straightaway off the asphalt and onto the grass, where there was a severe left "off-camber" turn. After a couple switchbacks, the course went over and back across two beach volleyball courts. The sand was being tilled to mike it hard to ride as I was surveying the course. After several more switchbacks on grass and a difficult off-camber to the right, the course crossed a road and went down a slate path. That path wound around a tree and then back the main area of the course. From there, a short climb and descent led across another road and out into a large field. After one switchback, the course went behind a softball field backstop reminiscent of Franklin Park. The route continued in the field around a large tree before meeting two man-made yellow barriers at the base of a large hill. After the hill peak, there were numerous switchbacks that led back to the main area of the course across the road. A small climb later and there were some barriers built for the park. They were high and solid and the course required you to cross one, wrap around a tree, and then cross back over another. After several more switchbacks, the course was back at the foot of the asphalt hill by the start line. This time though, the course led to a staircase which would have to be climbed, then back to the bottom of the asphalt hill where you would ascend once again and cross the finish line to end the lap. The entire loop was approximately two miles.

It was immediately clear to me that this would be unlike any type of racing I had competed in to date. I could just hear Maltas quoting Walter . . . "Forget it, Donny, you're out of your element!" The course required so much more than pure physical fitness. I feel like I have the cardio to match up with most folks at the race, but nowhere near the bike handling skills. This course and I assume cyclocross in general will expose this weakness and force me to improve. But whatever trepidation I had about racing was drowned out in my head by my desire to compete.

I eventually made my way to the starting line where I found a spot on the second row. I was a bit thrown off by the looks of my competitors. I had registered for the 'C' race expecting to be one of the most equipped to race. But looking around, I felt as out of place as I did at duathlons, surrounded by carbon fiber, discs, and aero shoes. Everyone had a jersey, many had skinsuits, and no one it seemed had a bike that wasn't equipped to race cyclocross well. I asked aloud of the group whether they were racing the C race because of its shorter distance or because they had never raced 'cross before. Only one guy chose to answer. He said not to let the skinsuit fool me, he was racing for the first time. His Lemond Poprad didn't help matters either though. Before long, we had received our instructions and we were off!

It's hard for me to give point by point action of the race, but I'll try to summarize the important things that I remember. Racing in such a large pack was exciting and somewhat embarassing. I felt like all my handling mistakes were annoying others--and some probably were. But hey, it was a beginner race and I did the best I could. The off camber turns gave me a lot of trouble and I found myself either proceeding really slow or getting caught with my feet on the ground straddling the bike. Before too long, the packs spread out a bit and it wasn't nearly as crowded. I made it trough most of the dismounts without too much trouble and surprised myself by getting back on the bike better than I had in my brief practice. There were a few times where I almost fell getting my left foot out of the pedal but nothing too bad.

The trouble came just after the staircase on the very first lap. Somewhere in climbing the stairs and remounting the bike, my chain fell off to the inside and got trapped between the bottom bracket and the chain ring. Since I had removed the small ring, I had a nightmare on my hands. I didn't realize this at first and I tried to get the chain back on the ring. But it was jammed between the mounting points for the small chain ring. I couldn't get it out! I was in such a hurry that I grabbed the chain with my hands and pulled as hard as I could. It wouldn't budge! Argh! I was going crazy. People were passing my in droves. I gave up on it for the moment and picked the bike up to run--thinking that maybe I'd have to go all the way to the pits for help. I ran up the asphalt hill with the bike on my shoulder and then stopped and flipped the bike upside down. At this point, I had been passed by enough people that my competive drive to hurry was waning. I calmly and carefully began untangling the chain and finally I had it loose. Of course I didn't get it out before hearing Thor tell me, "John, shouldn't you be racing and not working on your bike." I laughed and got back racing as fast as I could. At that point, I'd never met him face to face and it gave me a bit of a boost to know someone on the sidelines was watching.

I spent the final two laps of the three lap race trying to pick off as many guys as I could. Mostly though I was alone and clear from all riders. That was probably a benefit to my learning cyclocross. I was able to focus on the technics of the race and not worry about getting in people's way. Near the end I had some competition and I did my best to race hard. I was exhausted. I know nothing about being exhausted on a bike without being in an aero position turning a constant cadence. This was new territory. I held off a few guys and sprinted in to the finish as best I could. God was I tired! I finished 20th out of 36 starters. I think I could have finished top ten without mechanical issues.

After walking over to the car and putting my bike away, I walked back over to where everyone was milling around. I brought out my camera too to take pictures off all the things I'd missed without having Jess to shoot. I chatted with they guy just behind me in the results, Nick. He was getting back in to racing after being away from it for a few years and he too was a tri-guy. I watched the women's B race and then was absolutely astounded by the talent in the men's 35+/45+/55+ race. Those guys were flying. It was so exciting to see them attack the course the way they did. It reminded me of watching Foot Locker Regionals and seeing Alan Webb and the elites just rip the course apart. And this was the masters race! What a shame I had to go home before the A race!

While chatting with Thor, he mentioned that some guys race twice. This surprised me considering how tired I was, but immediately the cogs in my head started to turn. It seemed a little crazy to race twice, but I was so excited about racing at all that it wasn't long before I had pulled my bike out of the car and laced up my shoes. I had to make some crude adjustments to my front derailleur. It was horribly out of adjustment from my pulling on the chain during the previous race. I loosened th bolt and slid it just to a spot where it wouldn't rub the chain while on the middle chain ring. I knew I wouldn't shift off of that one, so it was easy to adjust. I made my way to the starting line and stayed near the back knowing I didn't have the legs to race up with the big boys. Behind me were the juniors, who would start a minute behind the rest of the field.

I mostly let the field get sorted out in front of me at the start. But I started racing once things cleared up a bit. It was great to be back amongst other riders as opposed to playing catch up as I had in the earlier race. I couldn't help but notice how much different my legs felt though. When we came around for the first lap, I also couldn't help but notice that the lap counter was at four. This meant the race would be five laps long--two longer than the C race. In general, I think the longer races will favor me because my conditioning should generally outweigh my lack of technique as other racers get tired. Today though, I was focused on trying to finish the race. The long two mile laps seemed quite daunting. What made things worse was when I realized I'd forgotten to put on my gloves. It wasn't too long before my hands started to ache from all the banging of the course.

It wasn't long into my third lap I believe that I could hear juniors coming up behind me. Not that I really needed any more humbling today, but that sure did it. What I didn't realize at the time though was that the first junior has been competitve at the national level. But I took exception when it started to feel like they were all going by. I held my ground and focused on holding pace. Eventually, I was able to build back up a gap on the second and third place juniors again. I gained good ground running up the hill after the yellow barriers rather than trying to ride it as most did.

Going into the final lap, I was thrilled to hear the bell ringing in my ears. So close, yet so far away from being at the finish. I nearly screamed though when, after I remounted the bike following an off camber turn I chose to run, I saw my chain had fallen off to the inside! This time I was more skilled and quickly flipped the bike upside down and pulled the chain carefully out from between the crank arm bolts. I did this fairly quickly, but by the time I was back riding down the slate path, I was desperately trying to make up ground on the two juniors and a couple other B racers. The gap I had held was reversed. I yelled out and stomped on the pedals and flew by a couple guys. I made back all the places I lost but made myself very tired in doing so. Running up that hill hurt bad. Back on the main section of the racecourse, I was nearing the finish when going into a turn, myself and the third junior were awfully close. We rubbed shoulders a bit but nothing too hard. He wasn't too happy that I wouldn't let him by easily. I told him I didn't care what division he was in, I was trying to beat him--and I was. He was my motivation most of the back half of the race. As tired as I was he was the only thing keeping me focused on the task at hand. I held him off without too much trouble once we got on the asphalt hill.

You won't see my name in the results of the B race because I didn't register for it. In all honesty, I thought I would be scored in the race because the officials recorded your race number everytime you crossed the line. I didn't realized that I needed to register individually for each race. Judging from what I can remember, and from the limited number of pictures on the web, I think I was somewhere around 25th place. That's a guess based mostly on one picture.

I didn't have time to stick around and see the A race as I had to pick up Jess from the airport. I had a blast (sarcasm here) navigating back home through downtown Baltimore. Needless to say, I didn't fare as well as I had coming up to the race. I did make it to Jess not long after she landed though.

There's so much to say about cyclocross, but I'll mostly let my race summary speak for itself. This is the most fun I've had on two wheels without a doubt. It's also the most tired I've been since running in college. It's far more intense to me than duathlon and it brings out my competitive nature even more. But the best part about cyclocross is it's obvious comparison for me to cross country. The time of year is right, the terrain is right, and the competitive atmosphere is most definitely right. But it also has the lap racing and multiple heats that I love so much about track. It's nice to not only race twice, but to watch other races as well. For me it seems cyclocross combines so much that I love about racing even if my strong suit of running is greatly reduced. I'm glad I found this sport and I look forward to racing next week.