_____________Crossniacs________

In a word: Frustration.

I got to the course nice and early so that I would have plenty of time to warm up. My race was at 5pm and by the time I got to the staging area the flood lights were already being fired up. I snagged a halfway decent starting position this time, about four or five rows from the front.

First thing the ref says after calling up the top 10 and letting the group fill in behind (I’m paraphrasing): “TAKE IT EASY GOING INTO THE FIRST TURN. It would suck if your race was over before you even hit the dirt. Get down the straight and through the first turn cleanly, then go ahead and race it out.”

You’d think people would take this to heart and make an extra effort not to half-wheel each other . . . but no, two guys touched wheels within fifty yards of the start and went down right in front of me. I locked up the rear wheel and left some rubber on the asphalt, but I managed to stay upright and swerve around them. I actually ended up with a decent position after that because the guys who crashed were near the front and I was one of the first people to come around them. It didn’t last though - two other different people crashed in front of me on each of the up-and-overs on the back side of the course and I ran into the back of both of them. In the time it took me to pick myself up off the ground and untangle my bike TWICE, a large chunk on the group that was behind me had scooted past and most of them I never saw again. I spent the rest of the race working my way up from the back of the field and actually rode well, but to say that I was pissed with the events on the first lap would be the understatement of the season. To add insult to injury, the judges missed my number as I came through the finish (”because it was dark”) and left me off the results!

YouTube here, pics here; photo below courtesy Cyclocross Magazine.

- Nick in SF

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