Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Another Tuesday Night Cyclecross

I did the Tuesday Night Cyclecross again.  Go to http://www.mcf.net/ for more information.  This time the course was flatter and had fewer barriers.  The barriers were in two groups.  One group of two barriers and one group of three barriers.  It was equally as technical with many turns, both uphill and downhill.
Again, I got my ass kicked.  I think I finished dead last, or close second to last.  Of course, I will continue to do these Tuesday night races.
The people who do this well, really know how to cross those barriers fast.  If I came up to a barrier even with someone, by the time I got through the barriers, they were on their bike and a good 50 feet or more ahead of me.  I am fast enough getting off the bike, I am just not smooth getting over the barriers and back on the bike.  I think I need to go out and get a barrier and practice on my own.
My legs really are not that tired when I finish, I am just breathing hard.  Breathing hard through the whole race.  I can do a sprint or olympic tri and I don't think my heart rate gets as high as it does during a half hour of cyclecross.  This the opposite of a TT or the cycle portion of a tri.  Here I am in a gear where I am spinning a lot, because of the uphill.  In a TT or tri I am pushing a big gear at a constant pace.  Cyclecross is a very different creature that requires very different training than what I have been doing.
I took some random pictures of the Masters and Female race that was after the Cat 4 race I did.  I tried to give some sense of what the course was like.




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