Post date: Nov 05, 2010 1:51:14 PM
After a successful spring road season I was really looking forward to racing cyclocross this fall and raced in a couple of Chicago Cross Cup races to prepare myself. After a much needed nap in the back of Loren's car we arrived in Purdue greeted by plenty of sunshine, howling winds and no fanfare whatsoever. It felt weird getting to a race early enough to ride the course, but I'm glad we did. The Men's B race started first with roughly 20 racers from 4 schools, IIT, Wisconsin, Purdue and everyone's favorite Zipp sponsored college, Marian. No giant team from Marian for this race however.
This was my first ever Le Man's style race start and I was pretty excited about it. There was a bit of mayhem during the first half of lap 1 which gave me a great opportunity to weave around the fallen racers and slowly move up the rankings. The first and 2nd place riders were gone like the wind and I did my best not to fall face first into the sand trap or crash into another rider. Somewhere around lap 2 I was passed by a girl from Marian, not my proudest moment. However with 1 lap to go and my lungs yelling at me I didn't really care. Chase and Waylon were cheering me on from the sideline telling me I was in 3rd, but all I wanted was a sip of water, or a twizzler handup. Who knew those were illegal? Shortly thereafter I finished the race and proceeded to collapse in fatigue. I didn't catch 1st or 2nd, but held on for 3rd place, my best finish ever.
I signed up for 2 races, the Men's B and Men's Open since a 2nd race only cost $10 more. After finishing the first race, I immediately regretted that decision. Another 60 minutes of jumping over creeks and running uphill? What was I thinking? I started the men's Open race a lot slower knowing I had to pace myself. I just wanted to finish the race without getting injured so I could finally drink some water! With about 3 laps to go I caught up to the 3rd place rider and overtook him only to screw up mounting my bike and somehow dislodge my rear wheel. It took me about a minute to figure out what was wrong with the wheel and by this point a few riders passed me, including one with a MTB! I knew I could take him running through the sandpit and caught him and a Marian rider with 1 lap to go. I tried to catch the 2nd place rider, but had no gas left in the tank and was plenty happy with a 3rd place finish. Now that the sufferfest was over I could splurge and spend my winnings on burritos and milkshakes, which I promptly did.