December marks the end of the US cyclocross season. I had only 2 more races to go: Ice Weasels and the National Championship in Louieville, KY.
Ice Weasels is always a fun race, 10 years ago it actually inspired me to start participating in this crazy CX world. I had signed up for the 60+ men race, which had a combined start with the 47+ men's race. Since the forecast was for snowy and cold conditions I had taken my fat bike and cross bike to the Montague Plains for a practice ride the day before. I used it to open up and to get used to wintry conditions. This definitely paid off as after a bad start, but left foot unclipped during initial sprint from the start line, I found a good position and quickly settled in for a battle Kevin. We did not see first place Paul who was ahead of us. After leading the first lap over Kevin, he overtook me after a little slip up in a rutted corner, I managed to get back on his wheel and then in the penultimate lap attacked and quickly developed a gap and ended up on the podium with a 2nd spot.
The Monday after the Ice Weasels race, Paula and I left for Louiseville. Ky with our Camper van. Monday we made it to Erie in Pennsylvania. We overnighted on a parking lot of Cracker Barrel. The next day we finalized our trip and arrived in Louiseville. On Wednesday afternoon the course was opened for preriding. I spend a good 2 hours trying out various lines. The ground was soft and little slippery.
The next morning early before the race, conditions were completely changed and all the muddy ruts were solidified by the overnight frost. It was still pretty cold, I did pre-riding in the morning cold and had to change my lines from yesterday. At 10 the race started, an hour before I did my warmup. After I showed Paula and David the pit, where they had my spare bike. I then went to the start for the staging, but I got pretty cold. My hands, legs and feet were freezing.
I was staged in the 2nd row, but when the race finally started, the rider in front of me had trouble clipping in and we got passed by a bunch of riders left and right. When we finally were off, it felt half the field passed us.
I tried to gain positions but my legs did not cooperate, the rest of the race was basically a struggle, slowly losing some positions, partly due to small mistakes. I ended up 23rd which was disappointing, as I was ranked 16th. I scored 388 points which was not the best of the season, but not the worst either considering my finish spot.
The next days we watched the other races and visited the Angel's Envy distillery, Saturday afternoon after the men's elite race we drove back home. Since we wanted to stay ahead of an incoming winter storm, we kept driving thru the night until I could not keep my eyes open anymore. We stopped in Syracuse, NY for a 2 hour stop to sleep. We were home Sunday around noon.
With this the 2024 CX season was concluded. My cooperation with Coach Stephen Hyde made me a stronger and smarter rider. We continue to work together thru 2025.
... can't wait.