Wirth cyclocross race report

My injury this spring has been the best thing for my cyclocross season! Being out for the summer means I have no expectations, and can really have fun. Today was maybe the best time I've had at a Minnesota cylocross race.

I rode over to Wirth, which was right on my previous route to work. There looked to be a good turnout for the only urban race here since Powderhorn and Boom Island were cancelled. There was quite the line, too. I took a pic for all the pre-reg haters out there. Teammates Owen, Matt, Mario (honorary), Ray and T3 all showed up, which was sweet, except poor T3 broked his '09 Rival group already. All the other usual suspects were there from the whole MN, IA and ND scenes.

The course was fun for me. If I were really serious about racing it would not be at all fun. There was a lot of singletrack, which meant either you can't pass, or people will take stupid risks to pass. Since I'm not, though, I really enjoyed the swooping curves and getting my bike handling on. I'm proud to say, no crashes, and, since I put my chain watcher back on, no dropped chains either. While pre-riding I came up on someone wearing a wedding veil on the back of her helmet, which I figured could only be Kristy. She and Jay had gotten married yesterday, with the reception there in Wirth park, so it was only fitting! Congratulations!

After checking out the course, I watched a bit of the C race. Coming out of the woods into the grassy area near the start/finish I saw an endo and some slide outs. There were plenty of places on the course where things could get nasty in the heat of a race. I lined up at the back as usual for this season, and with the huge turnout, that meant pretty far back. The first two laps were a leisurely stroll through the woods as things got pretty backed up. Eventually things sorted out, and I could have some fun picking my own lines and picking off people here and there in a battle for 50th. My only goal was not to be slower than Skibby, and I at least accomplished that. :)

After a few laps the "party on the wrong side of the barrier" was ramping up, and I took a whisky handup and later a vodka handup. It really was great to have a big, loud turnout. Between that and not taking it seriously, it was almost like being in Portland again.

After the B race I was exhausted. I figured out that I was bonking, but right then Meow came to the rescue with pumpkin muffins and cookies! She totally saved the day, allowing me to hang out and watch some of the A race instead of heading straight home for recovery. I think pumpkin muffins is my new favorite recovery food!

Highlights:

- Kristy's veil
- A brand new Time 'cross bike cleanly broken in two by a tree collision (rider was okay)
- Vodka and whisky handups
- Lots of people cheering for me
- Doing an extra lap because they forgot to flip the counter
- Flying bike in the A race (previous video)
- Chatting and high-fiving with spectators during my race
- Hanging out and having fun before and after my race
- Noticing that Smithers skipped the skinsuit today
- Pumpkin muffins!

Good times. I had to leave before the end of the A race as the muffins wore off. As I was leaving, Dan Swanson was off the front, with Aric Harland in hot pursuit, Ghost was battling back up after a bobble, CJ was doing awesome moving up each lap, and Smithers was hanging on for dear life but looking pro.