Race Report: Cross Crusade #4 and #5, Deschutes Brewery

Rereading my race report from two years ago demonstrates how far my racing has come. Despite being Not My Kind of Cyclocross (too dry! Too technical! Too much running!) I did OK.

15 of 117 on Saturday, 14 of 103 on Sunday. This earns me yet more series points, putting me at 11th in the series, although three mandatory upgrades above me means I’m more like 8th.

The race

Dry but not too dusty. Duffy. Thick dry grass kept pulling my front wheel offcenter; and sucked all the life out of my legs. No crashes to speak of. Three long runups Saturday; course change on Sunday added a fourth. Saturday warm and dry, Sunday cold turning wet. One long drop Saturday; two on Sunday. (By my reckoning and including the four pre-ride laps Saturday, I did that tricky drop fourteen times.)

Kiddie Kross

Was (again) surprisingly challenging. Iris did most of the course under her own power during Kiddie Kross B. Orion did 15min of Kiddie Kross A, after about 5min his energy and enthusiasm flagged (all that grass.) I pulled him over for a big pull of sports drink and he jumped back into the race with a big grin. After 15min most of the kids were destroyed, a couple of older boys were literally in tears. Not Orion! He perservered — we work really hard to instill perserverence as a trait, over mere excellence — and did it with a good attitude. So proud of my kids this weekend.

The weekend

We stayed at a motel near the venue. Pretty perfect, considering its proximity to parks, restaurants etc.

Saturday was gorgeous, we spent all day outside and I even got a sunburn.

I wanted to party Saturday night — the girls were in bed early and Orion was out with Grandma Ellen at the High Desert Museum for a Halloween party. But by 8pm I was tapped, fell into bed and slept (mostly) through the night.

Sunday was dreadful, freezing temps at dawn then freezing rain rolled in exactly halfway through my race. Of course my Fairy Princess costume meant I was mostly naked.

Jenny and kids didn’t spectate and we skipped Kiddie Kross to go straight home. I was bummed that the kids couldn’t show off their costumes (and that I lacked my awesome cheering section), but did well regardless. The drives to/from Bend were less taxing than usual, or perhaps I’ve just become inured to the horrors of road trips with small children.

Photo: Ryan Kang/Daily Emerald
Photo: August Frank/Life Cycle Racing