Ok, this is more like it: mud, wet conditions and a bit of light rain! But let's go from the start: since I'm having such a good time on the cyclo-cross bike I was really looking forward to line up at the start line of the Fixx Supercross Cup Round 3 in Tymon Park this morning. After a quick breakfast I got the van packed and I was on my way to the race venue.
The weather was looking kind of grim at the beginning: heavy enough rain and to be fair the temperature was cold enough. But hey! We are talking about cyclo-cross here, these are exactly the conditions we love, hah? :)
Got to the race venue nice & early, perfectly in time to get the registration done and have 2 practice lap on the course before the start. The race course was absolutely amazing: long tarmac sector to get some proper speed going, twisty turns, boards, lovely little drop and a sweet run-up sector. And the best sector was the "Spiral of Confusion"...this thing was totally insane! It was a big spiral where riders went into, they circled around many times and after a very sharp turn they came out the same way but different direction. When I went into it for the first time it seemed like there's only way in but no way out...brilliant!
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| Sitting in the heated car, can't beat that on a rainy day! :) |
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| Pretty much ready at this point (photo by Dave Harnett) |
After the last bit of preparation we were all set for the mud-fest: lined up at the start line and off we went. The pace was serious on the first long tarmac sector, everyone was fighting for the positions before the first tight turn. After a couple of minutes the line has started to strech a good bit and I started to settle into my own comfort zone if there's such thing in cyclo-cross racing.
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| Ready to go (photo by Dave Harnett) |
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| Getting over the boards for the first time (photo by Dave Harnett) |
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| Cool sector with a short bridge (photo by Peter Doyle) |
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| Crossing the bridge (photo by Piotr Szeliga) |
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| Hard bastard climb (photo by Piotr Szeliga) |
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| The best corner on the course (photo by Piotr Szeliga) |
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| In action (photo by John Kelly) |
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| Pushing hard for every position (photo by John Kelly) |
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| On the climb (photo by John Kelly) |
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| In the forest sector (photo by John Kelly) |
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| On my own for a little while (photo by Peter Doyle) |
We finished lap after lap and the course started to change quiet seriously. The mud suddenly got deeper, the corners got more slippery and the short burst climbs started to feel more painful than before. So, it did get better!! I felt like I'm about to burst in the first two laps but after that I started to feel better and started to enjoy the race more indeed. It was so nice to hear people cheereing us on during the race. It certenly gave me a good boost that's for sure.
After I got the 6th lap done I crossed the finish line with the racing time a bit over the 50 minutes mark. I have finished the race in the 22nd place in the about 60 riders field. It's ok for now but I'd love to aim higher next time indeed!
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| Wrecked but happy! (photo by Piotr Szeliga) |
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| Race is done & "dusted" :) |
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| The bike needs to be cleaned a bit... |
I am very happy after today's race. I've had great time racing and I'm simply happy with everything: great and very well organized event, brilliant race course, nice crowd and perfect cyclos-cross weather. What else I can wish for?! :)
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