It's that time of the year - Cylcocross or in other words - 30-45 Minutes of Sweet Pain

It all started back in 2010 following a cycling accident that resulted in a broken wrist (here is the reason why). That was when I started to work for the first time in my life with a cycling coach. After a great summer of riding with a few triathlons under my belt, my coach came up with a new idea for me for fun riding in the fall and off-season.  It's called cyclocross.

Cyclocross? what is cyclocross you ask? I asked the same question. 

Google was my best friend to better understand this madness called cyclocross and images and videos of mud covered racers running carrying their bikes on the shoulders and jumping over obstacles popped. So what does a "normal" person think? This looks like FUN!!! Sure I'll give at a try. At that stage of the season I was burned out from just cycling and training for my next triathlon so something new was welcomed. Zoltan said, ok then, meet me at the park (i.e., Central Park) Friday 6am we will practice technique. "But coach" I say, "I swim on Friday" he responds back "no excuses be there." "But coach" I say again, "I don't have a cross bike" (not that I needed an excuse to buy another bike, N+1 is my mantra). "You can practice with your road bike." Fresh out of excuses, I reported to the meeting place at 6am along with a few other newbies that "Zoltan" coaches. We started with the basics - jumping on the bike, clipping in and peddling (not as easy as it sounds and very painful the first few times, especially if you are a guy), then slowly over a period of a few weeks we got to the more advanced stuff such as dismounting off the bike while keeping momentum, the right way to rack the bike on the shoulder and running up stairs and jumping hurdles. After a few weeks of training, lots of new bruises and constantly painful shoulders, I felt I was ready for my first race. By then Zoltan had gotten us a deal on our first cross bikes, an entry level Cannondale that was so heavy we all nicknamed them the "Couch".

"Couch" and I signed up for our first race Westwood Velo in Harriman State Park (NY). I knew 2 other women who were road racers that were signed up for that race. I had no idea what I was getting myself into ... I showed up close to the start time, the other women were all wearing their fancy kits (I was the only person who was wearing a regular cycling jersey), fighting for position close to the start line and chatting with each other about their racing. I felt so much out of place, like a fish out of water. I didn't know that we could do a warm-up lap before the race so I hadn't ridden the course. Very much intimidated I stood at the back of the group (what a mistake). Then the horn

Staten Island beach run

Oops looks like someone met the ground

sounded, the race was ON. Boom, we all charge forward like there is no tomorrow. My hart rate reached 170 bpm in less than 1 minute, I could barely breath and we were still riding on a flat terrain, oh my, and I hadn't even completed one lap and have 4 to go.  After a few minutes I settled into a rhythm, I was doing great on the technical sections (thank god for my mountain biking background), but I did not have the intensity to keep up with the fast women. I kept telling myself "just finish the race in one piece and make sure you are not the last one crossing the finish line" that sounded like a reasonable goal - right?  Out of breath I see the sign - ONE lap to go, yes it's almost over. I even managed to pass a few of the other women on some technical turns, just to get passed by them when it was time to sprint. That's it; race is over, I did it, my first race and I wasn't last, not too bad, I was not even second to last. The most important this was, I had a great time, if was fun. Although I was in pain I couldn't stop smiling and for me that's the important thing. 45 min of pure pain and smiles at the same time.  Did I find a new love? I guess so, I signed-up for 2 more races that year.

Chicago races are more flat but as much fun

Sadly for me the Cross season is a very short season but I had so much fun sucking at cross that in the next season I even bought a better bike. Since I am more of an endurance athlete and never train for this type of racing, I view them as a fun thing to do in the triathlon off season. The goal is always the same not to finish last and have lots of fun (the black and blues bruises are extra and free of charge).

Thank you google for the cool animation

When I moved to Chicago I was disappointed to learn that the cross races for my category (cat 4) are only 30 min, so I was struggling with the driving 1 hour for a 30 min race when I can go mountain biking for a longer workout (triathlete thinking right? ) but thanks to a good friend (yes that's you Patricia) I got to meet some cool ladies doing this cross thing and have been doing a few races every season. I even upgraded my bike again (as I said I need to excuses to get a new bike) and now deeply in love with my black with blinged gold Crux.

My first race of the 2015 season

This season after doing my first race 2 weeks ago, was a turning point for me. I finally realized that even though the race is only 30 min, it is an amazing VO2 workout, something I can never replicate on my indoor trainer or just riding my MTB. Now the cross cough is for a reason on top of just fun.

I am just looking forward to my next race - Campton on Sunday. Yes, the goal is still the same - have fun and try not to be last.




Thanks for reading and Michelle thank you for the pictures

Breathless and Smiling

Last but not least

Bike Bling