and then the winter arrived

Lake Ontario Park is a great place to watch the weather roll in.

As I rode laps around Sunday's cross course, the wind picked up, the waves grew big, the temperature dropped, and then winter arrived.

Yes, for the first time this year, the clouds brought snow. It wasn't much, but it was a solemn reminder of the cold months that lay ahead. 

kingston cross II

Dear Kingston Cross,
Next year it is all business. 

Sincerely,

.h.

kingston cross

The eighth race of the Eastern Ontario Cyclocross Series takes place in Kingston, Ontario at Lake Ontario Park. From what I hear, the crazy course that sweeps up and down a massive terraced hill on the north shore of Lake Ontario is the best race in the series.

Cross is hard, fast, and painful... and unlike anything I've ever experienced before.

My racing experience has mostly involved long days full of epic singletrack where the fist hour is about finding your rhythm and the next five hours are about riding with a handful of other folks in the woods. Cross, by comparison, feels like a rat race.

The field is visible, the crowd is cheering (and I did have a great cheer squad), and there is an expectation to preform. As I thought about the race on my ride home, I realized how much of a learning experience the morning had been: Endurance races and cross races have very little in common. Epic cross performance requires preparation. Proper training probably will not make the races any less painful. And trail running does not constitute cyclocross training.

My legs and (oddly enough) my back feel like lead, but the race was lots of fun. I will do it again - but probably not this season. Thanks to my wonderful cheer squad for making the trip down to the lake to root me on.

I will post pictures when I get them.

cyclocross 101

I spent the better part of Thursday afternoon trying to perfect the art of mounting and dismounting the cross bike that I acquired last fall. I spent many hours watching youtube videos before heading up to Fort Henry's XC running course for a short tutorial from the good man, cyclocross, and geography guru Neal. While not a complete failure, I was most definitely lacking the finesse that I hope to exhibit in a mere two weeks at Kingston's Cross Race.

I'll be back at it this week and if I'm feeling brave, I may give this week's Eastern Ontario Series race in Perth a shot.