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Mixing it up in 2010 and "Cross"ing into a new sport
Last September at the beginning of the cyclocross season I resolved to do something new and complete one race in this sport that I had never done before. I am very familiar with riding on the road and have even dabbled a bit in mountain biking, but riding off-road without suspension is a whold new world to me. My preparation included watching videos on YouTube featuring crazy enthusiastic beer-swilling European fans, and riding my roommate's cross bike in the driveway to try and manage a decent dismount without getting my bike shorts caught on the saddle. Sunday dawned this past weekend with rain in the forecast, and I crossed my fingers that it would hold out past my 12:30pm race. I showed up to the Hansen Dam Cross race by 8:30am to go to the beginner's clinic, and thank Dot and Paula for their invaluable advice. My first lap of the course was a bit shaky, but after the second one I started to get the hang of things. After the clinic I had three hours to kill until my race, and knew that refueling after my first ride was important. I had a Harvest Apple Cinnamon PowerBar for some carbs and protein, and washed it down with the Sun Tea Endurance drink to rehydrate myself. I toed the line with nine other women for the race, and we were off in a sprint. The concept of going all out for fourty minutes went against all the long-distance endurance races that I had done the past couple years. It was fun, challenging, thrilling, bumpy, sore, anaerobic, and heart-pounding. I managed to stay upright, and finished 9 out of 10. Not the greatest, but I accomplished my goal of finishing, and tried something new to kickstart my 2010 training. What have you done recently to get out of your training/racing comfort zone?
California, United States
Team Elite Triathlon, Athletes/Active Lifestyle
I competed in cross country and swimming in high school, and ran on the UCLA cross country…MORE
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