Let there be 'cross...

and there was, and it was good.

The Chicago Cyclocross Cup kicked off today, nearly doubling in size from recent incarnations, on a hot and muggy day in Hyde Park. I love the mud, love the heat, love racing in the city and LOVE getting to a race and back for pennies in gas. But mostly I love the abuse.

Unlike last year, when I ran about double the pressure I should've, this time I erred slightly in the other direction; my tires folded like a weak hand at a couple points in particular. Nothing major, though I can't wait for a couple of spectacular one-foot-off, rear-tire-sliding-out, odds-are-that-guy's-about-to-bite-it pics to show up on flickr. I managed to hit the one speck of pavement, but that was from pedal strike. I also tried to bunny hop a barrier in warmup. Unfortunately my low pressure soaked up my launching energy, I clipped the rear wheel, and hit the dirt. So I showed up at the line looking like I'd already done a heat....and skipped the bunny hop attempts during the race.

Cyclocross races are often little more than a hole shot plus a time trial, making for the dullest of race reports, and really, I'm starting to believe race reports are for an audience of one: me, for when I'm old(er) and so decrepit I can't recall the details. For the record: started stronger than my usual single speed spin, holding around 20th. Got passed by about five in the opening laps, but I was just off a group of a dozen and I knew if I could keep them in sight, I'd be able to pick them off. That part of the plan mostly worked. I felt a little sloppy on account of bending my tires on a few turns, strong in the small bumps, and fairly clean in the runups.

My plan only seriously failed in one regard. I don't know if I was getting stronger as the race went on, or everyone else was just getting weaker, but I was able to pick off spots pretty easily late in the game, meaning I didn't get caught up spending half a lap attacking and defending each one. In the paved straightaway coming into the s/f area at the beginning of the final lap, I saw that I had 4-5 guys behind me. I was extremely surprised no one successfully attacked me there, as my lack of gearing put me at a slight disadvantage. But as I held everyone off through the technical parts of the final lap, I felt like I could keep position if I just stayed calm.

The one truly ugly part of the course was a 180 turn in the middle of a downhill. Nobody took it well with any speed, and lots of people slid out. I knew I just had to take it conservatively there, but...whoops. I went down. I might have been ok, as nobody had a decent line to get around me, but I'd dropped my chain (yeah yeah, it's a single speed, don't ask why it happened, crappy chainline, a million miles on the drivetrain, yadda yadda). I could not get it back on, and a well-meaning spectator was actually not assisting as well as he thought. Anyway, I lost 5 spots, and got one back to finish 17th (out of how many? 70-90 or so? christ this sport is blowing up).

Despite the single-digit placing I'd hoped for, I'm pretty happy with it on several accounts. I recognized some names in my neighborhood of the results, and they are some guys who are at least 2 Categories above me on the road and track. Back when they had a singlespeed division, I got schooled by one guy who never finished worse than second, and I passed him a couple laps in. Most of all, I did it on a bike that, in its best day was worth about $600 - and that was about five years ago. There were some spare wheelsets in the pit that easily beat that. It's fun to beat people on a singlespeed, but it's even more fun when they are riding $2-4k bikes.

EDIT: I realized that I overlooked what's really the best part of cyclocross: the crowd, the vibe, the fact that people I hardly know are screaming bloody murder for me, the fact that people I don't know at all are calling me singlespeed badass, having my team screaming my name when I clean another racer in the double corkscrew, the bus (with a couch to bring right up alongside the course)...and of course, Luke yelling for everybody because he knows everyone in Lycra within a hundred mile radius. (Sorry man, I didn't recognize you with the beard!)

EDIT #2: It seems USAC has me listed in 11th place after all. Hm. No arguments here.

Despite being off to a blistering start, I have to take a small hiatus from 'cross. My frame is going back to my man Spicer to repair a couple of cracks, and besides...the next two weekends are reserved for my first stage race, the ABR Fall Fling. Woohoo!