Cyclocross: Another Barrier

I like cyclocross because you warm up for an hour, race for an hour, clean your bike for an hour, and then you don't have to worry about cyclocross for the rest of the week. I treat cyclocross as a break from road racing and the start of my offseason. I don't like to take the racing too seriously. I'm still going to push my body as hard as I can during the race, that's just my nature, but I'm not going to worry about my diet or recovery to the same extent I might going into a road race. The type-A tendencies of road season are replaced with the mud, blood, and beer of the cross crusade series. Teams set up tents around the course and everyone gets to watch everyone else race. There are people yelling and cheering, a stark contrast to the battles of a road race which play out across lonely country roads where the only spectators are the guys in the lead and follow cars.  It's a welcome bit of physical and mental recovery. 

Although I've actually been racing cyclocross longer than road, I've never really thought of myself as a 'cross racer. For starters, I lack the bike handling and technical skills that make for a strong 'cross specialist. But if I had really cared to develop those in the past four years that I've raced cyclocross, I'm sure I could have. There's something inherent in the sport that doesn't fit me quite right. Like the explosive efforts don't fit my body physiology, the raucous nature of the races don't fit my psychology. While I do enjoy the 50-minute all out effort while sliding around in the mud and jumping on and off your bike thing, it's never quite captured my imagination the way road racing, distance running, or triathlon has. A long arduous race that grinds its way up and over a mountain pass while it slowly grinds you into a powder, bits of you left along the course. That's the challenge that captures my imagination. Maybe because I'm a little masochistic and a little vain and I want to do whatever seems like the biggest test.

But that too is part of the reason I love racing cyclocross when the fall rolls around. It's a chance for me to jump some of those barriers. To lose control and slide around a bit. To break out of my usual rut and mix up my athletic life. And of course, it's a sport that lends itself to a lot of really bad puns.