Yesterday morning I got up early and rode the 35 minutes over to Bear Creek Park in the dark for the Pikes Peak Velo SuperCross race. Friday when I left work it was snowing but it was just slushy rain at my house. I was afraid I might be riding over in the rain or snow but when I got up it was clear and 35 degrees. I got over to the park just as it was getting light.
Once it really got light, it was beautiful with the fresh snow on the mountains. When I was driving on the course to set up barriers, I saw a coyote. We got everything set up in plenty of time. The course was pretty muddy for the first couple races but slowly dried out. Once the racing started, I rode around and made sure the runners and people walking stayed out of the way. I was able to take a bunch of pictures.
I had debated whether to race and if I did whether to do the 35+ Open of the Cat 3 race. Danielle, my 3 year old, wanted to see me race. Julie was busy in the morning which was when the 35+ Open race was so I did the Cat 3 race at 1:20. I thought there was a good chance I’d finish last and get lapped with as little as I’ve been riding. One or two hours a week of easy riding doesn’t qualify as training even for something as short as cyclocross. I was in last place for part of the race but I passed a couple guys as they started getting tired and I was beginning to get warmed up. My legs felt strong but I just didn’t have much aerobic fitness. My IT band and hip have continued to be tight since RAAM but I didn’t notice them during the race. I had an average HR of 186 and a max HR of 193. I may not have been fast but at least I was working.
In the SM 35+ 4’s, Pikes Peak Velo had 8 riders in the top 10. Katie Compton, the women’s national cross champion, lead the Cat 3 race most of the race but got passed near the end. The women’s race was next and she won that by a big margin.
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Tags: Colorado Springs, cycling, cyclocross, Pikes Peak Velo
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One of these days I want to try cx, but in SoCal it’s not really cx. There’s no freezing temps, no mud…
[…] the night before which gave us plenty of mud but we had sun during the race. Last year I wrote a post about the cyclocross race. I also took several pictures of the […]