Cross in the Glen, Week #1

Sunday morning I got my first taste of cyclocross racing atCross in the Glen Cyclocross Series . I got there plenty early to check out the course so I walked it and saw what I was in for. Since DEA was in Mass. racing with the big boys I was not sure what to expect.

It was chilly, in the mid-high 30's with a flake or two of snow in the air. Looking across the glen you could see the snow coming down on the upper parts of Mt. Washington.



I was torn as to what division to race in. I knew I was definitely not an Elite racer. The real question was whether I was a Novice or Intermediate. Since I had never done a cyclocross race before I thought I was pretty novice but I wanted to race for longer than 30 minutes so I opted for the Intermediate class. The Novice class went off at 10 and was a pretty good group of racers of all sorts. Even Michelin Mike was racing in his first cyclocross race.



Mike was the winner of the Novice class. I think he may have been better suited to ride in the Intermediate class.



The Intermediates and Elite racers lined up at 11 and we were soon off. There were 6 Elite racers and 8 Intermediate racers all going at it. All but 3 of us were on cyclocross bikes. I rode my Salsa El Mariachi as a fully rigid 1X9 and some 700X40 tires. It seems pretty light compared to the normal setup, but compared to the guys with the zooted out setups, its a tank.

I ended up placing 5th in my class and was pretty happy to beat a guy in his Team Giant Cyclocross get-up and team bike with Zipp wheels. It was close but I did have an advantage in the grass with my set up it seemed.

Well it was tough, I felt like I had OK legs from riding the SS this season, but I had no lungs. Probably a product of my trips to the hospital and then the couch. Looking forward to the next race.

JJ