Muddy Mayhem

Yesterday was the coldest, wettest, muddiest and most frustrating race I've had to date. I was tired, but looking forward to racing with some top guys, and believed I could have a good result. However some unfortunate timing along with more of "that's just racing" luck came together to create a tough day for me.
The race was in Fort Collins, about 90 minutes from home. The Cat 2/3 race was at 9:45, so it was an early morning. The first hard frost greeted me as I packed my gear in the car. We took the straight shot north on I 25 arriving right on schedule.
The venue was by far the biggest I've been to. This being a stop on the US Grand Prix it had it's own little village of sponsors, vendors and food stops. The atmosphere was great even if I could still see my breath. I found registration, grabbed my number and headed back to the car to bundle up and hit the course.
Twists, turns, off camber U turns and a few straight aways made up the loop. The ground was frozen solid underneath my tires, making a bit nervous. Hitting the deck is never good, but with the ground this hard it would be a much harder impact. I got the lay of the land and rode back to the car to continue my warm up on the trainer.
Changing into my skinsuit and knee warmers I geared up for the tough race ahead. The temperature had risen to around 30, and with no wind it was really pretty nice. Classic 'cross weather! Mentally I was in a good place, ready to be aggressive but not overly amped. Sitting in the corral waiting to stage seemed to drag on, but soon we were all in neat rows nervously tugging at our gloves or adjusting our shoes. Then we were off.
In the first 50 meters on pavement I had both decent and not so good luck. I was in the top 12, but then the rider to my left veered over so I had to check up. This cost me some crucial spots heading into the first corner. From my days as a BMX rider I know how important that first corner is. Get there clean and your day is much easier. Come through near the back and it's a dogfight to the front.
As we hit the course the usual argy bargy was taking places. Guys leaning on each other, trying to get the better line, trying to move up. It was the usual chaos but at least no one went down.
Then the real chaos began. In the hour between my riding the course and the race the temperature had risen just enough to thaw out the frozen ground, creating a muddy, slick as ice mess. Any attempt to really lean into a corner and your front wheel went out and down you went. This happened in front of me a few times causing me to lose my momentum.
Quickly I realized the race was getting away, but there was little I could do. The course was littered with guys sliding out, even on the straight flat sections. As we rode our tires filled with mud, making traction even more hard to come by. Any time you lost momentum and tried to gear back up the tires just spun.

Slipping and sliding was the name of the game. Photo: C. Johnson

Through many corners I had to unclip my inside leg to ensure I wouldn't go down. I tried to focus on the riders ahead of me and work on catching them. Through the grassy sections I powered along as fast as I could to make up some ground. By the third lap I knew I was well out of the top ten and since I had no rhythm, nowhere to just unleash the legs I was pretty frustrated. As the laps went down I vascillated between trying to hammer and just not caring.
The coolest part of the course was the stairs run up. I've seen these on some of the more professional courses, but never had the "pleasure" of negotiating one. Pretty much they put a large stair case with about 10 steps in the course followed by a short flat and then the ramp down. It's pretty fun if you get it right, but screw it up and you can really hurt yourself.

Running up the stairs was one of the coolest parts of the race. Photo: C. Johnson

When it was all over I finished in 20th, just inside the top half of the field. Given that I am a Cat. 3 rider and our group was a combination of Cat. 2 and 3's I was surprised I was that high up.
My bike was covered in mud, like everyone else's so I washed it off a bit and went for a quick cool down spin. The clouds had rolled in and I was getting really cold really quickly so I spun back to the car, changed into some jeans and a puffy jacket and watched the rest of the racing. Thankfully the "All You Care To Eat Pancakes" guy was out, so for $5 I filled my belly.
For the other riders the course dried out and actually got really fast. I was blown away with how fast the pros, women and men, were able to ride. Cyclocross racing is truly a skill all it's own.

The bike looking a bit dirty post race. Photo: C. Johnson