Elmwood Park CX 2021

_{(Pictured: The author, in pain while racing. Good times!)}

As originally stated in my very first article on this blog this year, I wanted to improve my standing at the next cyclocross race I was able to participate in. To be fully honest, I may not have even done this race if I hadn’t written that down as a goal, so my plan to hold myself responsible for doing the things I’ve set out to do has been working beautifully in that regard.

I did indeed manage to improve my standing. Earlier, in the wonderful weather of summer, I had an inkling that I could get into reasonable shape to at least complete a race by the fall, so that’s why I targeted the nebulous goal of “whatever cyclocross race I was able to enter next.” It turns out that I underestimated myself – I was more than able to finish the race. This is ideal.

So, let’s get into some details, in a convenient list format!

• I particularly like this park because there are a few steep embankments and a mysteriously large amount of singletrack available, and the course designers take full advantage of this to make things interesting.

• I was profoundly glad that I had put in the time on the bike prior to all this. I could’ve finished the race no matter what, probably, but it wouldn’t have been as fun if I hadn’t been ensuring I got some miles down.

• My mileage still isn’t as good as it could be. I know that I can definitely eke out more time to get better at going fast on bikes. I think this will be the thing that will have the biggest influence in future performance.

• The biggest change over the last time I was on the bike a lot is that this time I approached it with the intention of going faster, instead of just being on the bike. In years past, it was enough for me to just be on a bike cruising around and enjoying myself. I wanted to see if I could shoot for something more.

• For whatever reason, if I say I will do something on this blog, I am so much more likely to do it. I guess I hate making a liar out of myself, who knew? Leveraging that to not just get training done, but to participate in the race was helpful and I intend to keep that practice up.

• Some hills are steep, and it’s difficult to do hairpin turns, off camber, downhill. My biggest takeaway here is that I should probably spend some time on my cross bike on singletrack, intentionally challenging my handling skills. It would’ve paid off with a huge time save, and an equally huge energy save. Or I suppose I could just ride the mountain bike? Madness.

• My time on the fixed gear road bike has firmly ingrained the idea that I will keep pedaling at all times in me. This was advantageous, because after many miles of not coasting, I feel like I’ve armored my legs against feeling like garbage. They’re barely even noticeably sore a day later. It also meant that when I was feeling gassed out, I was able to continue to turn the pedals over and go faster than I might have otherwise.

• In the past, I was used to having small battles with the other people around my speed. This didn’t happen this time, and as a result I spent a bit of time wondering if I had been dropped by everyone and I was falling ever further off the back. This wasn’t the case – I believe I’m just in some neutral zone between being too slow to hang with the people ahead of me but fast enough to gap the people behind me. I firmly believe I can improve even more over time!

• It’s easier to have article ideas when you do stuff. So I want to do more stuff so I can write more articles. It’s a really positive feedback loop.

• I discovered a trick to keep my pre-race anxiety in check. All I have to do is want to be there but tamp down the idea that I care about how I do. I didn’t let myself care about the result at all! It meant that my heart rate wasn’t through the roof before the race even started. It also meant that I had fun the entire time I was racing and I absolutely want to replicate that.

• Mechanical issues happen, especially when the tape marking the course blows loose in the wind. I feel pretty lucky that I avoided that, but not everyone did. I think it wrecked a couple derailleurs. I’m not even totally sure how I avoided the same troubles, but it was a quick lesson in how stuff beyond your control can sink your day.

In the future, I might have a more elaborate writeup. Not of this race, but if I were to do some other, maybe bigger, event. I’m a bit amazed at how much this blog was able to keep me motivated to go as hard as I could, and I’m glad for it. I’m definitely using that trick on myself again.

The season isn’t over yet, necessarily. There is one more “local” race near the end of November, right after Thanksgiving. Weather permitting, I think I want to attend that one as well. It could only result in positive outcomes, no matter what. This also has me looking ahead to 2022, and stepping ever further out of my comfort zone to hit up events I previously may not have considered.

These are exciting times!