Oct 17, 2022 at 03:00 PM
I spend a good amount of time up in NH. There is an annual CX race at a state park that is just outside of the town I go to (Keene). I decided this would be my first CX race.
https://www.bikereg.com/55627
I went in with no expectations of results other than to beat the guy in the banana suit. The course was available to pre-ride the day before and my god it was hard - slick, wet grass, 2 steep run-ups (one with trees to jump over) with complimenting steep drop-ins, 1 sand hairpin turn, 3 off-cambers, and about a 50 meter stretch of sand with a large mound in the middle.
Morning of was chilly and very foggy. You couldn't even see across the lake next to the course. Fueled with 7-Eleven donuts and coffee (not as regrettable as I expected). After my usual pre-race routine I gave the course a quick pre-ride to make sure everything still checked out from the day before.
Call-ups. They're... different. I was last (4th) row cause I'm a noob and that basically determined my race.
The start was hard. We did 3 laps in 30 minutes. I was in the red for ~90% of the race. The other 10% was in whatever comes after red. I settled in to a group of 3-4 and we were trading places for the first 1.5 laps. I lost traction on a particularly wet off-camber and lost them. Rode the rest of the race with a junior kid that was catching us the whole time.
Overall all it was a fun race. I'm not sure if I'll get serious about CX, but it is a nice change of pace. As someone who hasn't done any other CX races, I would HIGHLY recommend this race. Super hard, lots of features, and an absolutely beautiful area to be in this time of year.
https://www.strava.com/activities/7972546907
https://www.bikereg.com/55627
I went in with no expectations of results other than to beat the guy in the banana suit. The course was available to pre-ride the day before and my god it was hard - slick, wet grass, 2 steep run-ups (one with trees to jump over) with complimenting steep drop-ins, 1 sand hairpin turn, 3 off-cambers, and about a 50 meter stretch of sand with a large mound in the middle.
Morning of was chilly and very foggy. You couldn't even see across the lake next to the course. Fueled with 7-Eleven donuts and coffee (not as regrettable as I expected). After my usual pre-race routine I gave the course a quick pre-ride to make sure everything still checked out from the day before.
Call-ups. They're... different. I was last (4th) row cause I'm a noob and that basically determined my race.
The start was hard. We did 3 laps in 30 minutes. I was in the red for ~90% of the race. The other 10% was in whatever comes after red. I settled in to a group of 3-4 and we were trading places for the first 1.5 laps. I lost traction on a particularly wet off-camber and lost them. Rode the rest of the race with a junior kid that was catching us the whole time.
Overall all it was a fun race. I'm not sure if I'll get serious about CX, but it is a nice change of pace. As someone who hasn't done any other CX races, I would HIGHLY recommend this race. Super hard, lots of features, and an absolutely beautiful area to be in this time of year.
https://www.strava.com/activities/7972546907