Patience

Cyclocross season opened up this past weekend and I got in my first race. I took on the Colorado Springs race this past Saturday. A venue I've had mixed results on. The entire family was down in the Springs anyway so it worked out good.

I had a front row start due to my series points from last year. It was fun to see all the familiar faces and catch up with friends. The start was a short paved climb that dropped us into some single track. I was in about sixth place going through the first set of obstacles. As we were working are way to the first big run-up the guy in front of me started opening a big gap to the lead group of four. I really wanted to be in that group. So I down shifted and set off into the rough to get around the guy. Sadly I hadn't given my derailleur enough time to execute the chain shift and it skipped, dropping my chain! I had to stop and lost about 30 places. A mechanical on the first lap is about the worst thing that can happen to you in a cross race.

I was able to quickly fix the problem and was promptly on my way. I chased hard for a couple of laps. Then faded from the effort but was able to pick things up for the last few laps. To my dismay, I finished 21st..... first guy to get NO points! Sweet.

If I had only been more patient on the first lap everything would have been fine. Almost all of the four guys in the lead came back to the main group. If I had waited, I believe I would have had a great finish.

Sunday I didn't make the race so now I'm starting two races down for points. Next Sunday is the Breckenridge race. I have done well there in the past. If I get a good start and keep my head and patience the first couple of laps, I'm hoping things will improve.

Funny, I've never done well in a CX race when I put a lot of presure on myself. I need to be patient, race my own race, ride a "smooth" race and things seem to workout. I learned that last year, too bad I forgot this past weekend.