Interior Frost

Two nights in a row the INSIDE of my car window was frosted. It’s hard using a scraper inside your car…if you don’t know. I’m still trying to figure out the reason this happened two nights in a row…I guess there was more moisture trapped inside the car than outside as the outside warmed up? Hmm. Very interesting. This is the first time I’ve ever had this happen, other than with Clifford the big red plow truck…but that happens while I’m plowing on cold mornings. Anyway, no matter.

The car looked how I felt at the 2000 cyclocross nationals in Kansas City. Everyone was completely frosted from the inside out. The coldest I’ve ever been and care to be ever again. Many people’s fingers turned black after the race, blisters ensued from the mild frostbite. It was really ugly, but strangely fun at the same time. Kind of like getting lost in the woods, running out of water or food, and then somehow finding your way back in time for the Daily Show. The party afterwards, like always, made the experience. The orange coverall dudes were great also.
I haven't raced cross at all since 2000…until this year. I didn’t train, and the only real riding I did was commuting. I did ride 5 days of the Colorado Trail trip though which is a totally different type of fitness than ‘cross…but I thought I’d give cross a go this fall. I prep’d my IF cross bike into a single (39x16) and put back on my Tufo tubular wheelset which still was in great shape after not being used for 4 years. Micah and the Rollinsville rednecks convinced me to race, with some help from T.

The first race I did I was mid to back of the pack and suffered like hell. I enjoyed it though. Cross is quite difficult when you have no high end…no lactate tolerance from training. Lungs feel like they’re bleeding, spewing up lactate, coughing, burning legs and body, finally collapsing at the finish line dizzy from pushing so hard for just an hour. I still think solo 24-hour racing is harder than cross, but in a different way. I can suffer for an hour doing anything, but for 24 hours straight…that’s a whole different ballpark. Still, suffering in cross sucks. The next race I did was in Littleton on a flatter course. It was fun, but I think I got dead last. I dropped out when I got lapped by Jon Baker with 2 laps to go. I’ve never been lapped…until that day. I guess it happens to us all eventually (maybe?). My pilot suit did me no good, no pilot power that unfortunately.

Only 4 years ago I was at the top of my game in racing, but this fall I was sucking it up bigtime. I can’t say I had all that much fun in the race. I like racing cross, but I like it much better if I am fitter. I don’t need to be in the top 10 or top 5, but I need to feel good while racing...and the only way I could do that is by going so slow that I got lapped. I’d rather ride my cross bike with friends on trails than suffer the way I did that day. Josh and I went for a sweet singlespeed cross ride last saturday on Habid in the snow and it was sweet.

I can see racing cross again in the future, but next time I’ll train a bit beforehand to make sure I don’t explode in the first lap and get lapped. Racing is more fun if you’re racing and not just trying to survive.

With that…I need to go work on my frontside airs. I've bruised my right knee twice by falling on it hard in the last two months bailing from FS airs. Skating has been my racing the last two years…the progression of tricks and speed and fun…I’m a kid getting hurt all over again.