Problems

Despite my unpracticed, but near-perfect remount form, as you can see, all is not well in the land of Solocross. Never mind that problem #6 is missing entirely. I guess we'll leave that one up to you. In case you can't tell, this is the base of the Canton runup near the track. The first lap I managed to ride well past this point, but after that fatigue and clumsy riding had me bailing out early in to running mode. At least when I got to the flat part on the track at the top, a few times I was able to sprint away before remounting and gap potential wheelsuckers before the pedaling even started. All this running is good for something.

Last night I headed down to Middleboro for the Union Velo training series. All you guys missed a chance to pick up an easy 40, because I was no speed machine. There were around 25 riders present, including many of the usual suspects - Markie, Hines, Lynchie, Belknap, some Bike Barn guys, etc. Much of the Wompatuck crew it seemed. The lighting at the park was a mixed bag. There were a few dark spots but since there were no holes, rocks, nor roots, it was OK. More unusual, considering that Middleboro is among the flattest areas around, the course had significant elevation change. Combined with the fairly tall, lumpy, and wet grass, the conditions led to some pretty high-power grinding at times.

This week they also had two sets of 40 cm barriers. One had a fast approach and the other slow. As this was a training race, I saw a lot of riding around them. Before you scoff, I can understand why. After about seven laps, I started getting a sense of deja vu to the days of old when cross courses were a dismount festival. You stop attacking the barriers and end up trudging over them in survival mode. It's kind of stupid. One set per lap is plenty.

Despite trying to not go out too hard, I became toasted quickly. This was probably due to Sunday being my first cross race of the season just two days prior, not to mention I'd done a hard 6.5 mile tempo run in the morning (just what constitutes hard will remain a secret). By 31 minutes, which felt more like 51, I had to shut it down for a few laps. I was going to call it a night, but after another ten minutes I latched on to Lynchie and another guy and we raced it out fast for the final two. All in all a good workout. I'd go back so long as it's not wet or too cold, although after a Sunday race it's a bit much.

The local punkus domesticus were throwing vulgar heckling at us throughout the night. Pretty sad really. Didn't do too much for my view of the state of youth in America. I had some witty retorts in mind, but I was good and kept them to myself. I've seen enough crap that can't be respected without joining in. Thanks for reading.