Cross National Champions

Last race of the season. The top dog, the big enchilada, numero uno.... Yep, it doesn't get much bigger than Cross Nationals. This is where they hand out the stars and stripes jersey to the winner.

Yes, I know I really wouldn't "compete" for the top honor. So, you may ask "why the hell bother if you're not competitive"? Good question. Here's my thoughts when I decided to do this race months ago.

1 - It's freakin' cross nationals! In our backyard. How can you not be a part of that experience.
2 - It will be in Bend 2009 and 2010. I'll be stronger and more competitive next year.
3 - See if I can race late in the year. Last year I was totally burned out in November after the Cross Crusade.
4 - It's Bend Oregon. One of my favorite places in Oregon to have a 4 day weekend.

Pack my gear, bike, and Ali and I hit the road on Friday afternoon for the adventure. Yes, Ali is the girl I met a cross race at the beginning of the season (you see, I knew this bike racing stuff was good for me). She found this fantastic B&B, the Hillside Inn. Totally a fantastic location. Stay there if you're in Bend. It is totally worth the extra ~$15 per night.

My race (40-44 men) was 930am on Saturday morning. The earliest race I've done all year. I got registered and my number bright and early at 730am. The USA Cycling official that signed me in was grumpy. You see we're totally spoiled in Oregon with our OBRA officials.

We got to the course and I was able to do a pre-ride of the course to check it out. It was about 32F outside. Cold, but I guess much warmer than the previous 2 days of racing (a friend raced on Thursday and it was about 4F). The course had icy patches and of course snow. I've never ridden or raced in those conditions before. I was totally nervous. Slipping and falling on my side on hard ice was something I didn't want to do. I was feeling OK about it after my pre-ride, but I was still nervous.

Spent the next hour on the trainer next to the car. As you can see I was pretty well bundled up. I even slipped some toe warmers in my shoes. It wasn't my typical season warm-up. I was taking it pretty easy and skipped the higher intensity parts. It's quite different racing in a category that you know you won't be in the top 1/4 of the field. I would say it's more difficult to mentally motivate yourself. Especially when it's freezing outside and you're thinking about the hot tub back at the B&B.



The start call ups were based on national points and then registration order of your USAC license category. I just got a USAC license for this race, so I was going to be in the back. The way back that is. There were 190 riders pre-registered in my field. However, not everyone shows up. Actually, only 147 guys lined up. I think I was like 130th in the call ups.

The race started with a "bang" or really a big crash. It happened quite a bit in front of me, so I was able to run around it. However, it split the field up quite a bit. Which means the top guys were that much ahead (remember, in a national race you get pulled when/if the lead guys catch you). Here's a video I found on the internet of our lovely start......

Video - Start of Mens 40-44 Race

The first lap was bascially total chaos. However, us guys in the back were having fun with it. We all knew we were way off the lead group, so we joked around while waiting at the pinch points. The first section was in the trees and lots of switchback corners. It's tough to finesse the corners when you are surrounded by fellow racers.

They added a cool set of man-made wooden stairs on a run-up. This would be a great photo spot (unfortunately, I haven't seen one of me on these). Only one set of 2 barriers, but the good news is that my personal paparazzi, Ali, got a great photo of me there. I "nailed" the barriers and looked good while doing it since I did alot of barrier practice at the beginning of the season and have a few years of experience now. There was one large run-up and downhill on the backside of the course. The downhill was icy during my pre-ride and it was a congested mess on the first lap. I ran down it like most guys. This led into a pavement section across the start/finish line.

As normal, riders began to string out by the beginning of the second lap. I was now able to hit the straights with power and had the entire lane to finesse the corners. I was finding my snow riding technique. Lap 2 and 3 were fun and I was looking good. Heidi Swift, who writes for the Oregonian and Wend Magazine, captured a few sweets photos of me.

Near the end of the third lap, it happened. :-( I got pulled. There was quite of few of us pulled at the same time. I recognized my RiverCity nemesis from the Crusade season. We joked about how that was the quickest race we've ever done and it's time to start the off-season.

So that's what I did the rest of the weekend..... started the offseason. Ali and I hit the after race party that evening, went snow shoeing, hiked around Smith Rock, and of course enjoyed the hot-tub back at the Hillside Inn.

Fantastic weekend to end a good cross season. Now it's time to enjoy the break.

Final Results - (at least I wasn't DFL)

Cool PDXCross Photos - (I'm number 470 in the gallery)