Psychocross racing

First race of the WCA cross series. My first cyclocross race ever. Switched around the Poprad Sat night to run a 46x17. It was way too huge as I was totally out of my power band. Live and learn. It seems like these races will be all about starts, mounts, and just plain old acceleration. I was mid-pack before I got my second foot clipped in. In between barricades I would jump up 5-10 riders, then fall back again when it came time to use cross skills. Finally settled by lap 4 and was attacked by the kittens just before the last set of boards. 32nd out of I think 67 starters. I somehow thought I was going to show up and win a cat4 race. Not that easy. This fall is going to be fun.

My results here have me thinking more critically about my decision to upgrade to Elite for Sheboygan. Something just doesn't feel right about leaving the comp SS points battle. By our calculations, I have to beat Erich Ponath by 4 places to keep my 2nd place series spot. I know I can't control how well Erich does, but if I don't show up and ride my best race I am forfeiting my place. I haven't gone out there and suffered to get what I want this year, and that explains my inconsistent results. I am starting to feel like an upgrade would have a reverse effect since good results would be so much further away. Upgrading as a heuristic function is one thing, flogging yourself in the name of going faster is something else. Another thought is that I just haven't worked hard enough this year to deserve a title such as "Elite". Finally, comp SS will be a fun class next year with some of the people coming up from sport. And that's what it is all about right? Fun?

As a test to my commitment to bicycle commuting, I was up until 2am last night getting the Gunnar built up finally. Fenders, lights, bells, you name it. While working on the bike I had the A-Team theme song running through my head. The bike has a very industrial "Beyond Thunderdome" kind of look to it. I might have to add some leather pants and a viking helmet to my commuter gear.