Utah Cyclocross Race #2 Done

The heater in my car is on the fritz and with a 1:15 drive ahead of me and a 45f temperature I was less than thrilled. I watched as the temp readout on my dash slowly dropped until it bottomed at 38f...great. I may have been cold but at least I knew the way to the super secret Weber County Fairgrounds race venue this time. I managed to remember my trainer this time too so things were looking ok. I got out, signed my waiver then hopped back in the car to get a little warmer, it was pretty cold and I was signed up for a bike race, sometimes I really question my sanity and this was one of those times.

It was at this point that I realized that I really needed to use the bathroom. I had done a good job of getting hydrated on the drive to Ogden but now I had a VERY full bladder. I hopped on my bike to ride the quarter mile to the nearest bathroom, or at least the only bathroom I knew about. They probably have another bathroom, it's just kept a secret until you happen to stumble upon it. After the short ride to the bathroom my hands and legs were freezing. I was still wearing warm-up pants and my thick gloves, things were not looking good. I got back to my car hopped in to get warm again, decided I just didn't have it in me to get out in the cold on the trainer and opted instead to do some warm-up laps on the course. I started riding and eventually realized that the course was being run in reverse to the week before. No problem, except I still got turned around. Hey UTCX guys, please invest in some more course tape. I manage to get the turns right when I'm with the pack in the beginning of the race when my head is still in the game. By the 4th lap though, my head is as foggy as San Francisco bay, you need to make the course a little more clear. Over the final two laps I managed to lose 5 places from making incorrect turns and doubling back the right way.

I finished my warm up laps and got to the start line. While waiting to start I realized that my front tire had lost a lot of air and was now at around 25 psi. Luckily there are no rocks or roots on this course so there wasn't much chance of getting a pinch flat. The course was even faster than last week with no rain this week and everything being compacted from last weeks races. The extra low air pressure in my front tire really helped hold me in the fast corners, which saved some energy that I didn't have to scrub off with the brakes. People must have realized that it was faster to run between the log barriers because instead of being the only one running this time, about half of the racers carried or pushed their bikes instead of remounting between the barriers. Cold temps and poor course marking aside I'm actually pretty pleased with the race I rode. Normally I'm racing myself the last two laps. Everyone is so strung out around the course that the back half of the pack us just trying to finish the race. This time I managed to chase down four or five people in the last couple laps. I also managed my best finish yet, 25th of 45 finishers. Not much to speak of but I felt pretty good about it and had I managed to ride the course correctly I would have been closer to 20th.