WA State Cyclocross Championship Race

Seattle International Raceway.

On Nov 16, 2008, I got to race in the Cat 4 men's 35+ race for the state championship of cyclocross. Let me just say that I learned a lot in a very short time about racing. Read on to see what happens when a guy gets used to starting at 9:30 and ends up racing at 9:00 at the State Championship race.

I had a bit of a scare in the morning as I was lining up to race. I had a very low front tire and thought that I had a pinch flat from hitting a rock on my warm-up lap. I freaked out and cursed the fact that I haven't gotten a new set of wheels to act as spares. Maybe when I am rich and famous or maybe after another mishap.

Anyway, I panicked and all I could come up with was pumping the tire up and waiting to see if it would hold. There wasn't time to change the tube or I would miss my start. Who needs THAT kind of stress, eh? Anyway, the short story is that the tire has the same pressure in it now as it did 3 weeks ago during this race. I never had the flat I had diagnosed. My rookie move had me rolling around the course with a very hard front tire which made my cornering a little slippery. I did fine, though, despite a slight mistrust of my wheel. The good news is that I had better rolling resistance than most, which turned out to be an advantage for much of this course!

Coming across the line was a great joy because I was fairly certain I had made another top 20 finish. This time in the State Championship race! Wow. Not bad for a guy who was finishing more than 10 minutes behind the leaders last year. I got 17th and only 2 minutes behind the race leader's finish.

Until next race... Cheers! Dr. Andy