Super Rookie’s World

I had no intentions of racing tody…

I woke up this morning with the intentions of riding over to Montrose Harbor for the State XCross Championships. After the two inches of snowfall last night the roads were slick and really muddy. But, after about 10 minutes of lying in bed I gathered up enough courage to get out of bed and get dressed for the day. After riding over to the race course in the freezing cold I had warmed up a little bit and was ready for some good spectating.

The course was very technical and was a little less than a mile in length. Because Chicago isn’t very hilly it made use of a couple small hills. The entire course only had two barriers that were nicely placed at the foot of a large hill. It must be one of the larger mounds of dirt in the city. I could tell by the large number of children that were out sledding!

The most exciting part of the course was a section that went into a pedestrian tunnel out towards the lake shore. It utilized a little sandy section on the lakeshore and then came back for a couple long muddy single track sections. I saw tons of wipeouts and people biffing in the first race of the day.

I must admit that I was a little disappointed with the turnout. Only 12 A racers registered and only perhaps 100 people were out watching and I would estimate that 80 of those people were there in support of a racer. But, this is only the second year of the ChiCrossCup and they are already starting to see an increase in the number of registrants as compared to last year. I just find it hard to believe that in a city this size there aren’t more racers or enthusiasts that are willing to come out and watch some good racing.

While hanging out over at the grill eating some Brats and drinking some warm cider I got the urge to race. I didn’t bring my helmet and I road my Panasonic track bike. This bike is my pride and joy it is a red and white frame with complete gold components. It is quite the fashion statement. Super Rookie rolls in style. I at first thought it was a pipedream because it doesn’t have any brakes and that is not allowed according to USCF rules.

I decided to take a chance. After a nice donation of race fees from Tristan and the use of his helmet I went to go and register. I walked in and was the 9th person to register in the Single Speed category. The prizes went 2 places deep and looked really nice. I knew that I wasn’t going to be anywhere close to getting on the podium, but I wanted to make sure that the field had enough for the prizes to be distributed to the other badasses that only use one gear on such a technical course.

At the start line I settled in the back and hid myself from the piercing eyes of the officials. I was hoping that I wouldn’t get called out for not having brakes, but I knew that I could sweet talk them. I got a nice line from another racer, “Brakes? They only slow me down. I plan on winning.”

So we started the race after I did a one lap pre-ride of the course. I found out soon that the field had some really good competitors with a much wiser gear selection. I was riding a 44×16 and was really ‘grinding’ on the muddy parts and uphill sections of the course. I also had a little trouble getting up the wet climbs because I was riding slicks. If I would have had knobby tires I think I would have been able to do a little bit better.

Riding fixed was a lot of fun, but next year I think I am going to ride with gears and brakes. I felt pretty good during the race and it was a nice way to end the 2005 season. I was also able to see where my body is in relation to fitness and strength. There is definitely a noticeable change in my strength! Perhaps the weights are helping, or maybe they are just going to slow me down.

All in all I think that I did a good job for the sponsors today. I burst onto the Chicago racing scene and gave them a little taste of things to come. A buddy of mine finished 5th in the ‘B’ race and finished high in the overall season standings.

I finished 5th out of 9 racers. I was the only fixed gear and got tons of comments. Most of them were really nice. But, my favorite one of the day was, “What a dumb-ass.”

I am now the Illinois State Cyclocross Fixed Gear Champion(I don’t think this is a category, but it makes me feel good to say it).