First State Velo Sport Xross @ Fair Hill

This was a MAC Series race. The 3/4 field was slightly more competitive than the PA Series, where many of the strong Cat 3 women opt to race in the 1/2/3 field. Today, they were my competition.

I warmed up on the course, then it started to rain and I retreated to the car. As appealing as a cyclocross race in the rain may sound, I was thankful that the sun appeared just in time for the start of my race.

3-2-1 Go! And the rest, well, it’s pretty much the same story...heart rate maxed and a huge smile on my face. This course had significantly more climbing than any of the others this season. In fact, the 610 feet of climbing (in 6.6 miles) is more than what I'll do on some 40 mile rides here in the South of Jersey.

On the last lap I caught another rider and was right on her wheel. It was someone I had introduced myself to and chatted with earlier in the day. As we made the turn onto the final stretch I noticed that she was slowing down. Perhaps my breathing wasn’t as loud of a warning sound as I thought it was. I told her to get moving or I was going to pass her. I can’t imagine what someone in a road race would have said to me if I did that. She appreciated the encouragement though and I decided that I would rather gain a friend than another spot in the standings.

I cooled down and headed to the car, only to discover that I was bleeding...blood running down my leg and I have no idea when, where, how that happened...got cleaned up and headed to check out the results...9^th place and the top Cat 4 in the field...that’ll do!

Rolled out and on to Starbucks...let’s make that a Grande Americano, no room...and so hot that I was half way back to the Jerz before I could even take a sip!