Now I've Done It

Well, I've gone and done it now. After a week of nearly 6 whopping hours on the bike, I've decided to toe the line at a cross race for the first time in 6 or 7 years. Back when I first got a taste of cross I was still a newb to racing mountain bikes and did the cross races (two of them) on a borrowed bike and raced in the cat 5 class. Despite being in the lowest class at the time, I still got smoked but, in a way, it was fun. Unfortunately, I'm not really built for cross. I can go fast over a long period of time pretty naturally but the shorter the race gets the tougher it is for me. Even most xc races are a bit short for my taste. Over two hours and I'm golden, but drop to below 1.5 hours and I'm not exactly lighting the world on fire.

As a result, I've brushed off repeated attempts by cross heads, like our team manager, to get me into cross. Sure, it seems like it might be fun to have another go at it but after a typical full season of mountain bike racing how could I subject my family to another few months of constant weekend travel and shivering while standing in kankle deep mud?

Thankfully, this isn't a typical year and I didn't do what I consider a full race calendar and have been itching to do something else. The competitive little boy in me NEEDS it! So, yesterday, I signed up for The Ice Weasels Cometh. It's put on by some blogging buddies (who probably won't recognize me when I get there) and looks to be a good time. Laid back feel, smallish fields (for a cross race at least) and free beer should make for a good time even if I do suck it hard while racing.I still don't have a cross bike but thankfully my bro is letting me use his van dessel country road bob ss sorta cross-ish bike for the day. We've traded the bike back and forth like a strung out crack whore over the years and I still regret giving it back to rus a couple of years ago. There is something magic about the bike. It's a nasty green, is heavy as hell and doesn't have a particularly lust worthy build but it has SOMETHING. Maybe it's the curvy down tube or I just enjoy riding something called bob. Who knows really but the magic is there and I look forward to bob and I getting reacquainted this weekend.