Okay, today should be an eye opening experience. I have absolutely no idea how I’m going. I know I’m not going great, but I hope I might be going okay. I’m climbing like shit sitting down, and that is the only way to go uphill here, since the ground is covered with loose rocks and you have to put most of your weight on the rear wheel. I wish there was a off the seat climb to let me stretch my legs a little. My bike handling skills are just so/so too. I hope they improve during the race tomorrow.

If you’re snowed in or sick or for some other reason you need to be sitting inside today, the race is going to be live on the internet on YouTube. I’m not sure exactly how much they are broadcasting, but I’m pretty sure the whole women’s and men’s races. So, anytime after 12:45 CST, you can click here to watch. The men’s race is at 2:45pm.

I rode two laps yesterday. Not hard, but not slow either. I was mildly surprised that the 2nd lap was the 27th fastest time of the course on Strava. That is encouraging. The fastest time is only 3 1/2 minutes faster. I was 18:30 ish and the fastest time was around 15 minutes in last year’s race. I can go a fair bit faster, so I’m not so concerned now about getting pulled. Figure I’d have to be 12 minutes back in 4 laps and those guys won’t be doing the fastest lap times each lap, so I should be alright.

Trudi went to the manager’s meeting and registration. She picked my random number and I’m lining up 36th, which is the first guy after all the riders with UCI points. That was a first. My history in cyclocross is I usually end up on the last two rows. Pretty good only being 1/2 way back in the field of 69 riders.

I don’t really have a goal set for today’s race. Not getting hurt is something I’d interested in. Not flatting would be nice too. After that, my only concern is overheating a bit. It was a little over 80 yesterday and I got pretty hot on the short climbs. But, the race is short, around an hour and a half, so it shouldn’t be too bad. And unless you are from somewhere like here/Texas, Arizona, Southern Cal., etc., you’re in the “it’s going to be really hot boat”.

Okay, I’m going to go for a road ride this morning to loosen up some and then go over to the venue before the women’s race, I hope. Might get another lap in on the course if I’m lucky. Either way, it is what it is. I’ll let you know how it goes.

My favorite number is 11, but this one isn’t too bad.

I got some of the plug deals at the Bicycle Sport Shop. I had to call a bunch of shops before I found them. Weird, since I’d imagine they are really needed around here.

1st page call-up. There are some pretty good guys just 10 or so ahead of me, so maybe I’ll be able to follow some good riders early. Click to enlarge