Montrose CX

In a way, my Montrose was a replay of previous performances: deep pain and utter suckitude in the Masters 30 race, followed by deep pain and ok performance with the killer bees. Well, actually, my performance in the 4b's was my best this season! Five spots better than in Woodstock, and top 20!! Considering my lack of skills and nerve, and that the Montrose course was somewhat technical, a 20th was an awesome surprise! What gives?

Well, a bit of everything I guess: Practice makes less imperfect and, c'mon..., this is my twelfth-ish week of practice; I concentrated on not getting caught in the inevitable bottlenecks during the first half lap; I lost 4 or 5 pounds over the last three weeks; the 38t chainring, instead of the excessive 42t I've been using for 70% of the season. Whatever.

I'm sure I could do better next season. Who knows, maybe even break the top 20 in the 4A's. If there were a next season for me. I certainly hope there will.

Montrose marked the end of four wonderful months of a new thingy called cyclocross--a new thingy that made me genuinely happy. I don't think I'll ever shine in this sport, even among the 4b's, but that is not the point.

Thanks a million to every one of the race promoters, to Jason Knauff, to my teammates at TATI and to "friends of TATI," to the hecklers/cheerleaders, to Pip at Half Acre, and to Loren and Lew at Rhythm Racing.

* * *

And now what? That's the paralyzing question that crossed my mind (no pun intended) as soon as I got in the car back home last night. Any rehab clinics for endorphine junkies you know about? Trainer and rollers sound about as appealing as a bowl of raw broccoli.