Star-Crossed race report

Today was my first cross race ever. I chose Star-Crossed over Ft. Steilacoom because it seemed more fun and a lot less intimidating. This race is great- it's got music, a beer garden and tons of cow bell-clanging spectators to get you pumped. My race day support was top notch, thanks to Kristi and Craig from my new cross team Cycle U (I'm still racing MTB for Sega). As soon as I arrived Kristi plopped my bike on the trainer and I had a few minutes to spin before taking a practice lap with Craig. I felt like a pro with all this attention. The start line was a mess. We had to line up in numerical order but no one could see their number because it was pinned to their back! After a few minutes of "Hey, what's my number?" we were given more instructions that I did not understand. If you get passed in X lap, then you do Y. But if you get passed in Z lap then something else happens. Huh? I figured I'd just ride until someone told me to stop!

Then the gun fires and off we go. I learned a major lesson in the first 30 seconds- don't start at the back of the pack. I didn't have a choice in this race but I'll remember that in the future. I found it too difficult to pass other riders.

My first goal for the race was not to get lapped- with all the cat 3 riders in my field and I thought this would be inevitable. Starcrossed is a UCI sanctioned event and you'll get pulled from the course if that happens. Goal #1 achieved! My other goal was to not finish last. Goal #2 achieved- I came in 39th out of 52. Not too bad for a first race I guess. My skills suck though. I totally need to work on remounts- I had a close encounter with my rear tire on the 2nd lap. Eek. Eric pointed out that if I was just 30 seconds faster I could've moved up another 12 places! Next race.

Here are some more photos...