Raceday! All I can say is wow. That's how a cyclocross racing should be. With all the professionals and elite racers at Granogue, I was really impressed with what this sport can be at a high level. There is really a lot of excitement with announcers and terrific organization.

The course was definitely my favorite so far. It's located on the Granogue Estate of the Dupont family, and is located near Wilmington, DE. The land is spectacularly beautiful and even the rain and overcast skies couldn't hide that fact. The race starts on a 300m section of road before getting into the meat of the course. There's a quick descent to the lowest part of the course after running over some nasty roots. At low point there was plenty of mud just before a large run-up. It then winds around a bit before making its way to the highest point on the course where it circles around a water tower. From there, it descends with a huge off-camber hill with the standard planks waiting at the bottom. After a few more muddy turns, it's back to the road and the finish line.

I decided that today I would do my best to get in a real warm-up. The best thing I can think to do is to mimic my running warmup in terms of length and intensity. So I set up the trainer next to the car and started spinning. I'd originally planned on riding for 21 minutes to get the equivalent of a three mile run, but a call of nature cut that to 11. Luckily, I was able to make up for that by running to the bathroom. It felt great to run! I felt so natural and effortless and my legs felt terrific. I got back on the trainer after returning from the bathroom and did several "strides" by spinning as fast as I could. I should do more of those I think as the rush in my quads at the start of these races always seems to scare me away from fighting through the crowds.

I went to the start line early as I've come to expect in 'cross races, but I was thrown off by the lack of folks milling around preparing to scrum. I learned that we'd be lining up by our pre-reg numbers, which looking around, seemed like a great idea to me. I had a decent spot and after they lined us up, I was in the top third of the eighty or so riders. From the whistle, I did my best to be competitive and not to get intimidated by all the close riding. After knocking a guy down at Hagerstown and then the garbage over the internet after Charm City, I'm probably a bit too nice and tend to be timid in the early going. What usually happens is that guys force their way through the pack and I yield to them out of fear/stupidity/niceness (take your pick). Regardless of how competitive I was early on, the first lap had a lot of stopping and starting as well as a lot of riding with one foot unclipped.

After the first lap or so, things thinned out just enough to where I was more comfortable about racing. I still had to be agressive and forceful anytime I wanted to pass because of how small the lanes are. But I remember getting passed by a Wissahickon cyclist and I decided I'd suck his wheel and let him pull me through. That helped quite a bit as he seemed to create holes for us to ride through. With all the maneuvering that takes place on the off-road sections, it's no wonder that I took a liking to the 300m of asphalt. That tends to be my speciality at whatever course I'm at. I can usually fly on those sections and make up for my lack of technique everywhere else.

Speaking of technical sections . . . the off-camber hill that Granogue is apparently known for was really something. In all the races I've been in so far, I haven't had to ride with a foot unclipped. But this hill, as steep and as muddy as it was, made this the only option for me and, it seemed, for everyone else. My back tire was really sliding all over the place coming down that hill and I thought a few times that I would ride right off the course. I didn't, and I managed to ride the hill better each time we came around.

I'm not sure at what point I spotted Bernie McDonald, but when I did I felt like I had been drifting around aimlessly. Picking him up got me focused again and I set my sights on staying at least at his place. At some point, I realized that fellow-blogger Chris Nystrom had joined in the fun. The three of us were battling it out for what seemed like most of the race. Several times, I thought I had enough to break away from Bernie and I would really pour it on coming off the asphalt section. But everytime I tried, I would make a mistake in the first turn or on the roots or in the really muddy section before the run-up. And everytime I did, I rode there watching either Bernie or Chris or both take an amazingly sweet line right past me. It really sucked, but I couldn't do much about it and mostly tried to keep them close enough to where I could make up the lost ground on the road. That tactic became the theme for the duration of the race.

The most shocking moment of the race happened at what I think was near the midway point. I was taking my usually crappy line over the roots when Adrian Lobito went by. Seeing as he's leading the MABRA series and either wins or places second at every race, I was a bit suprised to see him passing me this far into the race. Most likely he had a lot of trouble getting through traffic at the start as I couldn't sniff his wheel the rest of the way.

As Chris Nystrom was making clear to me several times during the race, "No Brakes!" is the way to go. I'm definitely not the trusting kind just yet, but I can see how I will go a lot faster when I start taking more risks. I have a tendancy to grab a handful when the going gets rough or slick and it can get me into a lot of trouble. I almost crashed last weekend because of that and in this race it slowed me down a lot. Seeing the pros race really clued me in to how much you have to let go. Those guys would absolutely fly down muddy off-camber sections and you could see how difficult it was for them to keep the bike upright. But they let it roll and they didn't crash.

Bernie, Chris, and I mostly traded spots until the last lap when both of them were in front of me. I was able to keep them fairly close, but in the end I was only able to pass Chris on the road while the gap to Bernie was too much to overcome. It was nerve racking riding the final sections before we hit the road. I felt like a caged animal trying to get out. When my front wheel finally hit the asphalt, I stomped as hard as I could and got as low as I could all the way to the finish. I was trying so hard in that last lap to beat both of them but in the end my technical skills and maybe a bit of conditioning weren't enough.

For the race as a whole, all the laps blur together, I have no clue how many we raced or for how long we raced. That's one puzzling thing about cyclocross--I feel as if I could ride one less or one more lap and it wouldn't change my output. I just keep riding until they tell me to stop. I guess the exception to that is when I hear the bell. In that case I try to get more intense and deliberate about what I'm doing. I think with time I will grow more focused.

The section around the tower was very annoying. It was barely rideable before the race and after it became muddy it was neither rideable nor runable. I think those are sections where the course fails a little bit. If you're slipping too much to run then I don't feel like it's about speed--it becomes a battle of equipment or who can manage to muck through. I can't wait till I have enough cash to buy some new shoes with toe spikes! They should be mandatory on days like this one. I think they're good enough for a place or two for sure.

For the first time racing bikes, I had a brief cramp in my right calf. It was brief and not at all painful, but it scared me. I've never had problems with cramps, so hopefully I won't start.

After the race, I made my way over to get in line for the bike wash. It took a while, but once I got to the head of the line, I was able to give my bike and my legs a thorough washing. With the weather being so chilly lately, I was freezing after spraying all that water and so I went for a run around the estate to clean up. It was just a brief two miler--hardly worthy of a cool-down, but it did the trick and it felt good. Running it wet cycling shoes isn't the best of conditions, but it was good enough for today. I continue to be plesantly surprised by my running fitness.

All told, I finished 28th of 75 finishers--not too shabby for my first MAC appearance. I must say that even though the atmosphere is more exciting in the MAC, I prefer MABRA for racing. The smaller fields generally make for more fair competition. There's not the waiting for things to clear out the way there is in MAC. But it should also be said that I need to become more forceful about racing hard in the first few laps and finding a solid group to stick with the way I did today. Obviously to be good at this sport, my technical skills must improve dramatically. I think I've had success in the last couple races due to the long sections of pavement. Eventually I need to make even the muddiest of sections my playground.