cross clinic at alpenrose: i love cold mud on my ass

Last night I went to the final preseason clinic being offered by Cross Crusade Organizers at Alpenrose Dairy.
The day started warm and muggy. By the time I rode downtown to catch the bus to Alpenrose it had turned cool. By the time I boarded the bus it had begun to drizzle. Perfect! This would mean damp conditions at Alpenrose and after a dry, dusty summer I would finally see if I could handle myself on wet grass and muddy gravel.

I mostly could. My rear wheel slipped out from under me only once all evening. And as Ron had promised last week, I got used to the cold, wet feeling on my butt quickly.

Tonight, as an added treat, organizers had set up small portions of the actual course that we'd be racing on October 4. I decided to take a warmup lap of the sections they'd laid out, and was later glad I did; by the time the clinic groups did an organized run of the loop it was too dark for me to see. The section included several steep, off-camber corners, a sharp off-camber incline, and some fun single-track into the woods followed by a completely SICK run-up along the back side of the velodrome. UGH! I shouldered my bike as best I could and picked my way up the hillside covered with thick, wet grass. Amazingly, I made it. After that, a short pathway set up over the sidewalk above the velodrome and back around onto more wet grass (there's a lot of grass at Alpenrose).

I joined the second clinic group, folks who'd come the previous wek and were ready to put all the pieces together. We practiced mounts and dismounts (I still SUCK at re-mounts, in case anyone's keeping track), leaping over barriers, and shouldering the bike and running with it. Our instructors -- all just GREAT folks, by the way -- set up three barriers in a row and told us that at the actual Cross Crusade, there'd be a "six-pack" -- six barriers in a row for us to leap over. Ugh. I got tired just hearing it. But I hung in there, taking tiny breaks as needed to catch my breath, and carried on. The rain continued lightly on and off all evening, and the sky was filled with dark, cloudy overhang. About half an hour before the end of the clinic, it got too dark for me to see, and I had to stop riding.

Before I left, I took the opportunity to chat a few minutes with one of the instructors. Rhonda is a small, wiry woman who looks like she began riding 'cross in utero. She asked about my previous riding experience (commuting and long-distance touring and randonneuring), and I asked her how I could learn to get faster. She gave me an excellent interval exercise and even timed it out for me -- two minutes of really hard effort, followed by four to six minutes of easy pedaling. "Do that several times, a couple of days a week on your way to and from work," she said, "and you'll be surprised at how much strength and speed you build between now and next month." I also chatted briefly with Sue, an elite-level rider with a wicked sense of humor who'd been full of encouragement at every clinic. Sue reminded us to "ride inside yourself, ride your own race, and don't worry about the people around you" -- apparently, folks at Cross Crusade are much like folks at short-track and they'll shout out if they want to pass. "You won't get pulled from a race, you'll be allowed to ride the whole time, so just go at your own pace and have fun." I was assured that in the Beginner classes, people often WALK over the barriers towards the end of the time limit and that it wasn't anything to stress about.

I carefully made my way down the hill to the bus stop -- by then it was too dark for me to ride safely and I was tired anyway -- and headed home.

Things that worked: my attire. I wore my new-used Velo Bella shorts (less padding than my touring shorts, and somehow this made sense on my racing bike), a poly base layer and jersey over that, wool-blend arm warmers and my knee warmers. It never got cold enough to make me shiver (as long as I kept moving!) but the warmers were good to have along and kept me comfortable all evening.

Things that don't work: my re-mounts -- GOD! ICK! BLEAH! Tonight I was so intimidated by having so many other riders breathing down my neck that I flubbed MOST of my re-mounts and couldn't even do the Donald-Duck-on-acid "waddle". I also flubbed a couple of my dismounts by not being able to time them right, getting freaked out and riding around the barrier -- something I won't be able to do in a race. With all the women's categories racing at the same time on the 4th, the field will be larger than any field I raced in at short track and I guess that's the thing I am most nervous about. I'm going to piss some riders off for sure if they get hung behind me, but there's nothing to be done. We all have to start somewhere. Thankfully, the vibe seems welcoming and friendly enough that it hopefully won't be that big a problem for anyone.

Rosh Hashanah starts Friday night. will have to schedule my own private practices during the week between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I'd like to get in two if I can, short sessions at Woodlawn Park after work. Maybe I'll ask Sweetie to come along and show her what I've learned so far.

Cross Crusade. Cross Crusade. Cross Crusade.
It all starts in a little over two weeks.
Scared to death as I am, I can't wait.