We practiced on the trails on some undeveloped land on Hutchinson Island, across the river from Savannah. There was mud, and a few good hills at the bluff by the river, and long stretches of deep, deep sand. We worked through getting on and off the bike for obstacles, carrying the bike, riding in sand, running in sand, finding a good line through mud, and a bit about weight distribution on the bike. While I was having a blast getting muddy and eating mouthfuls of sand, and constantly crashing in bushes I never once really thought I was ever going to race.
Cyclocross racing, for those outside the narrow interests of the cycling world, is an intense form of bicycle racing that is done only in late fall and winter. Cyclocross or CX or just 'cross is a sport of transitions, the surfaces of the course may change from dirt to asphalt to gravel, sand, grass or mud. While it shares some similarities with mountain biking, cylocross dates back to the late 19th century, and originated in Europe.
Cyclocross differs from mountain biking in that the cyclocross racer will have to dismount and carry the bike past obstacles, and remount, and there is a whole other set of techniques involved with that. CX courses are not as technical as a mountain bike course, and CX courses tend to be fairly short, only a mile and a half to two miles, with many tight turns, forcing the racers to accelerate and decelerate constantly, over constantly changing surfaces.
Examples of obstacle could be plank barriers about18 inches high, steep slopes appropriately called "run-ups", stairs, sand pits, off camber turns, and thanks to fall weather, mud, and in more northern climates, snow and ice, or frozen mud. Races are run for 30-60 minutes, depending on class, rather than distance.
I don't really have the body, experience, or the personal drive, to be a great athlete. I don't have the time, money, and frankly, the kind of discipline to train hard enough to get there either. On numerous occasions I have managed to get way in over my ability, or more truthfully, I almost always do that. Sometimes I manage to tough it out, but sometimes I am just so far off the back I might as well be off riding alone.
A few times I have even just called it quits. I don't like quitting, I almost always regret it, because I ask myself did I quit because I was really physically spent, or did I just get tired of trying. What really disturbs me is there is a part of my mind that is continually creating new and crafty excuses for why I should quit, or slack off. I have to ask myself, is this thing always on, and what other garbage is it feeding me?
I am enjoying learning the technical aspects of bike racing, but far more interesting is observing the people around me, and the different responses that they have to events in races, but mostly observing myself, and learning what motivates me. I'm still trying to find where in my psyche that push for the final sprint comes from, or closing a huge gap after being dropped off a paceline after a hard pull. This year I'm a little faster and a little stronger, and it should make racing more fun. I've been racing and training in Criterium races, and riding off road a good bit. Crit racing has helped me realize just how much of the race happens inside my head.
What I have found is that there is within me the will to push myself beyond what I am certain I can do, to endure a just a little more exhaustion and pain, to try to discover what my limits are, and to realize that my limits change. I am realizing just how much of the race is mental, how much the performance is in my head, rather than my body. Nothing can substitute for good physical training, and learning the skills and strategy needed for racing, but my real race happens mostly in my head. The part of me that wants to just give up when it gets tough is not very strong, but it is very persistent. I realize that as I train I need to train the part that doesn't quit, but that keeps racing, keeps pushing on anyway, even when the race is futile, when there is no hope of even making a good showing
The season in Georgia starts in early October, and while in the heatwave of August that seems far away, I am already feeling like I am behind where I should be in training. Of course, last year I had only about a month of preparation, and not even a dozen rides off road. Right now I need to rework my training plan to start including some cyclocross specific workouts each week. But before I do that, I'm going to take a short break from real training, to give myself some time to recover from having pushed myself so hard this summer.
My description of cyclocross racing may sound horrible, but it's really so much fun. I like the challenge, I love riding off road on a fast, light, maneuverable bike. I like wheel slip, and recovering instead of crashing. I like that there is much more to the race than brute strength, although it helps. I like that it's sort of a silly sport, one that's never afraid to make fun of itself, even though it's a very serious thing for many racers. I like the camaraderie between competitors. I like the struggle, I like the dirt, and I like being fearless, like I'm ten years old again.
