25 days, 19 hours and five minutes...

I looked forward to the cyclocross season last year but it didn't eat at me like this year. Maybe it's because I have my own 'cross rig to ride this year, maybe it's because I feel like I have a tad more fitness this year, but it probably has to do with DNFing my last real race of 2008. The race was at the equestrian center in Draper UT, the site of my first race that year, where I was lapped right at the line and had to stop, though as I mentioned before it was a bit of a relief to cut my race short one lap. Cut to that last race, or at least the last one that counted before the snow-covered just-for-fun race, I was feeling good, I was riding well. I was actually passing people on downhill and uphill sections. Then just as I was about to start lap 2 I realized my rear tire was flat. I didn't have a spare wheel and there really isn't time to patch a tire in a 40 minute race so I walked up the hill put my bike down and cheered on the rest of the racers.

I'm determined not to DNF this time around, I haven't worked out as much as I should have but still feel pretty good about things. I plan on getting whooped in the first race when the first time 'crossers show up from their full season of mountain or road cycling and realize after one race that they should probably upgrade and race the B's instead of us lowly C classers.

When you're coming up on the start of a new race season you start to plan things out. The things that need to be replaced, the new parts you need to buy, mentally going through the races to get yourself psyched up for it. Apparently the gents that run the Utah Cyclocross series are busier than I am, have other things on their mind or haven't finalized details because they have the dates for the races but no venues listed. It's going to drive me mad! No disrespect intended, they're not under any obligation to list any details, but it would sure help out my mental state. After an exhaustive research I've determined the tires I want to buy, anyone not familiar with cycling, and especially cyclocross has no idea the great amount of time spent in determining the right tires to buy. Panaracer Cinder-X 35 tires are my choice for this year. This means exactly nothing to my wife or anyone else I know but it's one area I know I'll have dialed in for the season.

The thing about both cyclocross and Utah is you never know what the weather is going to throw at you. It's probably because cyclocross season is in the Fall and anyone who's spent a couple of years in Utah knows you could have a drought in October or you could have a blizzard. I spent my that my fair share of childhood Halloweens with a coat over my plastic Darth Vader costume. There were also those year when it seemed downright balmy as I walked around collecting candy and getting scowled at by people who thought 15 too old to be trick-or-treating. What this means for race day preparation is I have to make sure all of my clothing options are available to grab Saturday morning: wool socks, thermal base layer, tights, shorts, gloves, cycling socks, short sleeve jersey, rain gear, skull hat, wool hat, etc. It can be maddening.

In case it hasn't become apparent in previous posts, I, and most of my fellow 'crossers, actually hope for bad weather. The crappier the weather, the better it is for cyclocross. If you have a dry fast course you can usually just hand the first place prize to a roadie. You can make your way through the course without much in the way of bike handling skills and it comes down to pure fitness, which I have none of. When mother nature decides to deliver a nice rain storm it turns into anyone's race. Muddy corners can take down the best of them, I know they sure tried

last year. Rocks and roots get slippery, hills get twice as hard to run up and brakes, tires and derailleurs get all gunked up with

mud. It's beautiful. Belgium is the home of cyclocross, I don't know why. I also don't know why Hungary loves water polo, it's like watching a very foggy soccer match in which you can't see anything that's going on. Every country seems to have it's own favorite sport. What I'm getting at is, from my understanding, Belgium has a lot of rain and it just seems like cyclocross races should be muddy and tricky with even the pros ending up on their faces now and then.

Looks like we're down to 25 days, 18 hours and 25 minutes, and the Utah Cyclocross guys still haven't posted the venues for the season...