I have fallen and I can’t get up.
Raced Cross yesterday. It hurt. It hurt warming up. It hurt while racing. It hurt after. It really hurt this morning when I tried to function as Joe “go to work on Monday” guy. It was great to see everyone this weekend. I haven’t raced since July 29th so I haven’t seen too many people from the scene. Plus cyclocross seems to weed out the weenies and adds some cool other folks that either mtb race or just race cross.

I truly hope no one was able to document my barrier technique on film (still or otherwise). It was truly ridiculous. There were guys and gals in the ‘C’ race that had better technique. I even had a rear exit off my saddle at a barrier set. It was shameful. I have an excuse . . . . . but it is a lame one. I didn’t get my bike built until Wednesday night. I thought (in my infinite wisdom) that if I did any barrier/technique work on Thursday or Friday that I might still be stiff and sore for Sunday’s race. My rationale in skipping it was “hey, I have raced cross for years and I typically rely on good technique to get me thru”. Wrong. I almost went thru the tape at the first down hill barrier set I had practiced at least10 times during inspection!

Racing Masters was VERY fun. It was a bit weird not knowing who was who, what people’s strengths were etc. When you race against the same 50 guys week in and week out you can typically predict when people will attack, who likes to go solo, who likes to follow, who can’t corner, etc. It was like racing with a blindfold yesterday, because I didn’t know anyone. I am sure many of them were wondering who I was too! I won’t bore you with the details of the race. Racing Masters has re-invigorated me. Can’t wait for the work week to be over!