What if the Super Bowl were in town and you got to play a game in full pads a couple of hours before the real game started? Each fall, the world's best riders descend on a seaside park in Gloucester, Mass (yes, that one -- made famous in "The Perfect Storm"). They let us amateurs race the course a few hours before the pros. Add in some rain, mud and wind and you've got perfect conditions for cylocross. The Super Bowl field was ours for the morning. And it was a blast.
"What the heck is Cyclocross?", you ask. Think road bike, with almost mountain bike tires, a course 90% off-pavement (mostly grass), with obstacles you have to get off your bike and sprint through (while schlepping said bike). In this case, the course was old-school: 12 forced dismounts including a mud wall (see above) and the worlds longest stair case in a cross event.
The idea is that you're red-lining, bitter taste in the throat for the better part of an hour. The fifth time up that staircase and my head was spinning. Literally.
This was my first race last year and it hooked me. This year, I hood-winked Bill and Fred into buying 'cross bikes and trying this out.
My race went off at 8a, theirs at 9a. I made a rookie mistake at the start. Thought I was in the big ring. Wasn't. Gun goes off and I'm spinning like a blender while 50 guys pass me. Won't do that again.
This year's course was extra twisty. No real straightaways to pass guys.
Want a feel for it? Here's the video of my race:
Bill, passing guys like they're standing still:
Bill through the sand pit safely:
Bill up the barriers:
Fred flying up the mud wall:
Fred through the sand:
Fred, Bill and Fred's son Ryan at the finish (already talk of next week's race!):
Muddy:
Next week: Providence!!
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