Last Years CX Season

Since I've been in the blogging mode lately now is a good time to recap last years cx season. 

I did 10 races but only blogged about the first two, Buffalo Bill and the first day of Raytown BMX. About the first day of Raytown BMX I wrote something like 'felt stronger as the race went on so looking forward to tomorrow's race'. 

Well then I got sick and missed a few races and long story short I downgraded from a 2 to a 3 for the last three races. 

It was a good decision. 

Before the downgrade I was constantly getting crushed to varying degrees. If it was a turney course I was getting crushed less, if it was a power course I was getting crushed more. Colavita and Boulevard cup were tourney and fun. Shawnee Mission Park and Capital Cup were about power and therefore less fun. 

360 cup was my first cat 3 race, since maybe 2012, and it was awesome. Think I finished in the middle. Field was around 30. Cliff drive was next and it was a disaster. I rallied for the fast and furthest but after that I was thru. I had intended to race all the local races but I was getting slower all season so it was time to quit.

(At least the Royals won the World Series!) 

Before the season began I was pulling the trailer a lot but once it got darker and colder I stopped. Tried to transition to trainer but it wasn't consistent. So it was a slow decline in fitness all season long. 

All in all it was a good learning experience. "How to race and have fun when you have a kid and very little talent." 

I'm still trying to figure it out and now I've got one year of experience under my belt.

Hope springs eternal here in the blog world. 

Below are some pics from last cx season. 

God's Country Mountain Bike Race

I raced my mountain bike yesterday. 

Did the sport / cat 2 race at the Lawrence Riverfront Trails. 

It was a great day. 

Showed up late as usual but was psyched to see about 40 racers in my category. Including teammates Ivan, Danny, Jon S, and someone I didn't know. But he seemed like a lovely fellow. Ray also raced earlier in the day so we had a good turnout. 

I lined up next to Ivan, in the second row. The start was a shock to the system and I was breathing hard and unable to hold the wheels in front of me. Still I was glad to have hit the singletrack in almost exactly the right position (I seem to have a knack for that) because Nobody was sitting on my wheel begging to get around. 

My bad habit of not properly warming up continued but I felt like my legs had some power to give as the race went on. That was encouraging as I haven't ridden much this year. 

My 2016 plan is be fast for cyclocross and do some crits and mountain bike races leading up to that. So far I'd say I'm off to a good start. 

I wish I had warmed up properly because right now I feel like I'm not too far off from being competitive in the sport category, but I think that's all in my head. I'm probably a long way off. 

In the end I finished 12 or 13 out of around 45 sport racers. I'm trying to convince the wife to do a family trip to Springfield, MO next Sunday for their mountain bike race. That's her home town so I think I can make it happen. 

Below are three pictures from the day. Two are from the Bourgeois Pig (pre race and post race). I told you it was a great day.