Yesterday’s DCCX was awesome even if my results weren’t where I wanted them. Overall, this is a great course. It combines speed, technical features and elevation in a course you want to ride over and over again. I definitely liked this year’s changes to the course.
I started on the front row of the killer Bs and was holding position in the top 6, but somewhere on lap 2 or 3 my rear tire went flat. I was able to get to the pits and luckily I had left myself a set of pit wheels. One oxygen-depleted wheel change later I was back on course trying to regain position.
At the end of the day I crossed the line in 13th only two minutes down on the leader. Not the result I was hoping for at the beginning of the day, but a much better result than I ever would have imagined considering I had to make a wheel change.
Even better than my finish was the fact that my girlfriend tried cyclocross for the first time in the rookie race. For the past year she’s been going to cross races with me. She’s been a great cheerer, feeder, photographer, and equipment manager at starts and finishes. Yesterday, allowed her to reverse the roles. We set her commuter bike up with a pair of extra cyclocross tires, and she participated in the prior day’s women’s clinic. A quick note about the rookie race. Things that should disqualify you from participation in the rookie race:
- Carbon Cross Frames
- Tubular Tires
Despite some pre-start anxiety she ended up loving the rookie race! I was afraid there might be tears or death stares as I tried to cheer her on. Instead, she was smiling! The highlight was when on her final lap she completely rode the switchbacks after the barriers on the hills that were giving many C and B racers trouble.
Long story short, there may be two of us attempting to race cx in the near future.
