2010 Blogs
It’s crazy how seasons creep up on you. After my final mountain bike race in July in the sweltering heat and dusty air it seemed it would be ages until the real season began. I say real season because it is the season I truly love. Well I love road racing and mountain biking too, but I am head-over-heels in love with cyclocross.
In truth, CrossVegas was officially the beginning. But it is difficult to lick my chops in anticipation of snow, rain, embrocation, neoprene gloves, toe spikes and shivering in wet, mud-crusted shoes when in the desert lit up solely by the lights of casinos. After one more day of walking the Interbike show from 9am to 5pm and then a looong travel day from Vegas to Madison, WI, we stepped outside the airport to a night that was actually dark with a refreshing briskness in the air. We arrived to hotel and didn’t have to walk through smoky slot machines to reach our elevator. And instead of 12 elevators and 80 floors to choose from, there were only 5 buttons to push.
On Saturday morning I was finally able to get on my bike after not seeing it since Wednesday night. Clearly I need to relearn how to dress for fall and winter because the clothes I brought for CrossVegas were not cutting it. Those hip hugging short skirts, skimpy translucent tank tops, pointy strappy heels, arousing perfume, and shimmering lip gloss are a far cry from what I’ll need in Europe in 2 weeks. Unless I use the lip gloss as embro.
It had rained leading into the weekend, but not enough to grant mud. The weekend was gorgeous sun and ideal fall temperatures – a calm welcoming to cyclocross season. The course was fast, fun and flowing. Our race began at 1:45pm with Sue Butler grabbing a massive holeshot. Compton was able to race and took passenger seat on Butler. Off with a slow start I made my way up toward the front and tried to glue onto Katie’s wheel. Eventually Katie took over and I tried to shadow her as best as I could. I lasted for a little while but couldn’t match her accelerations and smoothness through the corners. Georgia eventually bridged up to me and took over the chase so I tried again to glue to her wheel. At this point I was fading and losing focus and bit it on one sandy corner. I had well lost Georgia after collecting myself off the ground and just tried to keep the pedals turning for the final lap, securing 3rd place. I was happy with my race though I didn’t feel quite so spry and was happy to receive another wicked Stanley mug.
