One goal for the year checked off!
Monkey Cross #2 Women's SS podium
Originally uploaded by gnat23 I enjoy trying new things all the time. This Saturday, I tried getting the hole shot.
Now, get your minds out of the gutter. In a cyclocross race, the starting line is usually on pavement and transitions to dirt. The dirt section is typically singletrack, which makes it difficult to pass one another. Thus: one of the best things you can do at the start of a race is to hit the dirt part in first place.
There was one other singlespeed woman in my category whom I had raced against before. We were side by side on the starting grid, haphazardly placed amongst the other Category C women, as we were all going off together. I knew I only had to worry about her; everything else was just for show. I felt pretty confident: pre-riding the course gave me a sense for the strategy I was going to use, my pre-race ritual was dialed in, and I was in a darn good mood.
The whistle blew. I clipped in and wiggled around a geared bike, then got up out of the saddle and tried to build forward momentum. I leveled my feet for the loose section of rocks, and then... I had it. I was in the grass, and absolutely no one was in front of me. I almost lost my composure right when the thought hit me. I got the damn hole shot!
I heard them behind me. Huffing, clicking, grunting, yelling, grinding. I felt the eyes burn into the back of my skinsuit. I shuddered and kept my focus right ahead of me. Just like the practice laps, Gnat. Dismount here, run through that little bit, jump back on for the downhill, get enough momentum to cruise through the puddle.
Then, I couldn't hear them. I snuck a glance back. Gone. Really?
Uh. Now what?
I had always heard that going off the front created a sense of panic, a hyperactive overreaction, trying to keep it. People got sloppy, pushed too fast, made more mistakes. Instead, I felt this strange sense of calm, like this had just turned into a pleasant ride in the woods with no deadline. The heart rate was still up, but all my lines stuck, every remount was fluid, and I started to sing just to keep myself company. So very strange.
A woman on a mountain bike, with gears (I checked), finally eeked around me. Aw, well, that was fun, I thought, and tucked in behind her. I joked with her, heckled, and just held onto her wheel for no good reason for about a quarter lap. Right after the barriers, she couldn't seem to clip back into her pedals. I shrugged, sighed, and passed her on the inside line. Back out in lonelyville.
La la la. Is anyone seeing this? Will there be pictures? The woman in the hypercolor mod orange skinsuit on the singlespeed bike in the lead of everyone, is that strange? No?
In the thick peanut butter mud section, I felt someone approaching behind me. I heard a shifting metallic clunk, a curse, and then she was gone again. Huh.
La la la. Hrm. I've been out here a long time.
On the last lap, I found myself really tired. It started raining pretty hard and sections I could ride before became gloppy and thick, sometimes bringing my bike to a full-stop. A woman on a geared bike got around me. That's ok, I let her go. As I was running along a mudpit, another woman on a mountain bike rode through it passing me there. I encouraged her and let her go. I was pooped.
I won my category no problem. But all those laps out in front like that? I guess I wouldn't mind doing that again.