Hey all! So, I raced
Sacramento Cyclocross on Saturday. This race was in Ione. It was great to have good weather this year, last year the rain was falling sideways and it was a little miserable. This year we had almost perfect weather, sunshine, and I raced in a jersey and shorts. My race ended up just going OK, though. It wasn't really bad, but it didn't go how I wanted it to.
I officially am not ready to ride barriers in cross. There was a log barrier on Saturday. I cleared it the first time in practice. Then, I went to practice it again, faster. This time, the success was that of the
log. I was totally fine, but I was a little frustrated. I am officially putting my barrier-hopping attempts on hold. I need to spend some more time honing my CX skills with some of the longtime CX riders I know. I would like the ability to ride these smaller barriers, as well as faster mounts and dismounts in general. Other than that, though, my cross has been OK. I just can't seem to get the speed I want. That's probably because my body is in base training mode, not racing mode. My training focus now is to get strong for mountain bike and downhill season next year. I am still racing cross, and I can still do well, but I know that I would do better if this was what I was focused on. This is one of the dilemmas you run into when racing multiple disciplines. Yes you can do well in all of them, but to really excel you have to pick one or two and FOCUS on that. Right now I am spending time building strength, and spending long hours on the bike, because my focus is on the 2012 mountain bike race season.
It's very funny, because since I am training so much, coupled with the whole, "being a teenage guy" thing, I am always hungry. I finish a meal, and I'm hungry half an hour later. It's like I never stop eating. After my long morning mountain ride in the rain yesterday, I absolutely decimated my Thanksgiving dinner. And then, I was still hungry later.
Regardless of the amount of training I am doing, and the lack of barrier-hopping abilities, I am very excited to race
BASP CX in Golden Gate Park on Sunday. My field, Open B Men, has been full for a while now, capped at 100 riders. I would like to do as well, or better, than last time. I really enjoy racing BASP, they are very well done events. And I will continue base training and eating all the food in my house. I hope to see all of you at BASP Sunday, that you all had an excellent Thanksgiving, and enjoyed the opportunity to be with loved ones. Now I'm gonna go find a snack. I'll keep you posted!
log. I was totally fine, but I was a little frustrated. I am officially putting my barrier-hopping attempts on hold. I need to spend some more time honing my CX skills with some of the longtime CX riders I know. I would like the ability to ride these smaller barriers, as well as faster mounts and dismounts in general. Other than that, though, my cross has been OK. I just can't seem to get the speed I want. That's probably because my body is in base training mode, not racing mode. My training focus now is to get strong for mountain bike and downhill season next year. I am still racing cross, and I can still do well, but I know that I would do better if this was what I was focused on. This is one of the dilemmas you run into when racing multiple disciplines. Yes you can do well in all of them, but to really excel you have to pick one or two and FOCUS on that. Right now I am spending time building strength, and spending long hours on the bike, because my focus is on the 2012 mountain bike race season.