Beans n' Barley CX Race

The pictures tell the whole story.

Yes, that's Santa... and he kicked my ass!

Done!

Kieran warming up while Barry enjoys celebratory barley!

Paauwe and Jobson lined up at the start line

Cross dismount?

Bow Cycle Cross

Looking strong is only half the battle,
but sometimes that's all I got!

Not a good sign that I fell about 3 times during the warm-up lap. Remember what I said last time about getting new racing tires, well, um, it didn't happen. Man, would I pay for it on this day!

Alberta fall at it's finest. Long, wet, yellow grass covered this entire course, with nary a tree to protect us from the cold winds. Back tire slipping on uphills, downhills, turns, you name it.
Note the base layer shirt and leg warmers; I decided to go with more padding this time!
It warmed up significantly by the end of our first lap, but I was thankful to have another layer to help absorb some of the impact.
None at high speed or anything, but when you're descending down a bank of about 30% grade, covered in slick mud/grass, and you hit a rock or the divot left by the last guy to crash, it's pretty much inevitable you're going down too.

I'd resorted to be an also-ran very early in this race, probably even before it started. This just doesn't seem to be my thing.

Practicing my pain face for the camera!

Can't beat the workout though, which is why I keep showing up I guess.

Not sure of the results, don't really care. I didn't get lapped, didn't injure myself. And I guess I had fun, although I'm not 100% convinced of that.

There's only one ABA cross race left in Calgary, two weeks from today. I'll get my tire situation straightened out and give it one more shot this year. On the fence about provincials in Red Deer, we'll see how the next race goes.

September 2012

Cross-tember!

Carry-over fitness from Road season + lack of proper equipment and technical savvy = fun, but pain.
3 races, plenty of bruises and scrapes on knees, elbows, hips, back, neck and wrists.
Also got new shoes, Saucony Kinvara 3's. Not sure yet about them, they're quite light, for a shoe, but more lift than my Vibrams, and have cuts on the tops of my feet from running without socks. May try it a bit more before I go back to the 5 fingers.

Stats:

• Run: 6 runs, 59 kms, 5 hrs
• Bike: 30 rides, 900 kms, 34 hours