The weekend was to be filled with all things cx. Clinic, racing, more racing, mud if got lucky. It was the official transition away from crits, road races, and time trials onto the laidback off-road fun. Saturday kicked it off with the Team Rev Co-Ed (yes! co-ed) CX Clinic. What a success! 40 participants hit the grass and woods at Concordia to learn and practice cyclocross skills. It was well-organized, well-attended and well-executed. Even though I raced cross last season, I still consider myself quite a novice. My dismounts are passable, but remounting and mud wreak havoc on my results. We didn't have any mud in which to play, but Carrie had us on and off the bike over and over and over again. It was exactly what I needed. I learned hand placement for carrying my bike over barriers and drills I can practice on my own.
Next, it was off to Hermann to practice those newly honed skills. I got to the race in plenty of time so I could get a lap in before the first race went off. The course had a little bit of everything: off camber, stairs, barriers, technical turns, and sand. (No mud though!) I did my warm up on the roads while the beginners raced and got a couple more laps in after their race, before mine. I have to give a shout out to the beginners--the women's and men's podium was full of CX clinic participants.
We had ten women in the Open race. We got instructions and the siren and went off fast. Stephanie, Allison, and Pam were out in front. I jumped right in with them. It's the first time I've been that aggressive at the start of a race. We hit the grass down hill and the off camber 180 behind the baseball field and headed through the thick grass to the first barrier. Gina and Amy went around me somewhere in here. I lost ground on the barrier but kept them in sight. We hit the stairs and I was still with them. I lost ground again remounting and when I chose to run the sand the first lap. Cory went by me after the sand. I talked myself through and just focused on racing the best race I could, working on my remounting. The second lap, I rode the sand and stayed upright, which was a big accomplishment for me. Somewhere during the third lap, I caught and passed Cory. By that time though, the leaders were out of sight. I could still see Gina during the long stretch to the first barrier in the grass, but couldn't catch her. I finished 5th. (Pam ended up DNFing).
I felt good physically during the race. My heart rate ran high, but nothing I couldn't handle. I focused on holding onto the hood when I jumped the barriers to make remounting easier. I think I was about 90% on that. I still need to work on shouldering the bike and reaching through to grab the bars. I carried it on my back instead. I was pleased with my jump off the start line, and need to work on staying up there. My bike handling, especially cornering, was good. Most of all, I had fun.
We had ten women in the Open race. We got instructions and the siren and went off fast. Stephanie, Allison, and Pam were out in front. I jumped right in with them. It's the first time I've been that aggressive at the start of a race. We hit the grass down hill and the off camber 180 behind the baseball field and headed through the thick grass to the first barrier. Gina and Amy went around me somewhere in here. I lost ground on the barrier but kept them in sight. We hit the stairs and I was still with them. I lost ground again remounting and when I chose to run the sand the first lap. Cory went by me after the sand. I talked myself through and just focused on racing the best race I could, working on my remounting. The second lap, I rode the sand and stayed upright, which was a big accomplishment for me. Somewhere during the third lap, I caught and passed Cory. By that time though, the leaders were out of sight. I could still see Gina during the long stretch to the first barrier in the grass, but couldn't catch her. I finished 5th. (Pam ended up DNFing).
I felt good physically during the race. My heart rate ran high, but nothing I couldn't handle. I focused on holding onto the hood when I jumped the barriers to make remounting easier. I think I was about 90% on that. I still need to work on shouldering the bike and reaching through to grab the bars. I carried it on my back instead. I was pleased with my jump off the start line, and need to work on staying up there. My bike handling, especially cornering, was good. Most of all, I had fun.
I grabbed a quick shower and went over to watch Klucker race. I snapped a few shots of him, but my camera skills, like my remounting, need work. He finished up and we headed back to the RV for dinner. We had the set up! Klucker's parents brought their RV and my children to the race. Pops smoked ribs and fixed dinner for all of us. It was heaven at a cx race.
After dinner it was time to watch more racing, in the distance it was clouding up and beginning to lightning. We had our pop up next to the RV and asked Cleeland if he wanted to put his tent under there. He moved it under just as the rain started. This turned out to be a good move for everyone. It caused us to clean up the campsite; bikes and tool box were put in the truck, other things put away.
The A race was called after two laps due to the storm rolling in. We sat out under awning for a while longer, watching it rain. We called it a night around 10 when the smoke from ever getting wetter fire drove us inside. For the next several hours, I don't know if I slept. If I did, it was brief snippets. The rain belted the RV, the wind shook it and hail dinged. I kept waiting for Cleeland and his son to come in out of the storm.
A little after one there was a knock on the door. I assumed Cleeland had come to his sense, not so. It was the sheriff telling us the creek was rising. The Klucker men stood outside for a few minutes assessing the situation as men do and then got to work. Coolers were thrown in the trucks. The smoker was put away. Inside we folded up the couch and stowed loose gear. I got shoes on the kids. Klucker brought me my pit boots so I could get to the car. The water was over my ankles by that points.
Within 20 minutes of the knock, we were heading out of town. Before leaving the campground, I looked over and saw that the water had risen to the top of a small car parked behind where Cleeland had been earlier. It was insane. Never have I seen a flash flood and water rising so quickly. The drive home was scary. Dark, narrow, windy roads were difficult to see as the rain continued to drown us and lightning lit the sky.
*Photo cred to Dan Singer. See Team Rev's Facebook page and http://picasaweb.google.com/illinisuze/HermannCX for more pics.
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