Anyone recognize what this is?
The astute observer realizes correctly that this is the result of poor negotiation of a CX barrier.
I did my first CX race ever tonight. Well it was a practice race....there were 5 of us and only 3 guys actually had CX bikes. But it was fast and fun.
If you have never tried CX...let me tell you, some guys make it look easy. Smart guys know its hard....but only a guy who has actually tried it knows how hard it really is.
I found that I am actually pretty good at dismounting and running through the hurdles and remounting at high speed (relatively). I am not about to say that I could kick butt or anything, but I think I was getting through the hurdles pretty well....until the last time through. That was the time that I was gunning for the first place finish and turned my head to check the competition (who I expected to pass through the hurdles) while remounting at full speed. Well....I missed the saddle and gouged my groin on the back of the saddle, then dropped down onto the back wheel which resulted in the road-rash-esque sore you see pictured here. It hurt...a lot.
It was not until I hopped into the shower that I realized what pain REALLY was.
This was a lot more fun that I had expected. I think it is a real possibilty that I will do some CX races this year. I will be the guy riding the really fat tires and a very narrow range of gears (SS). Depending on the layout of the course, I might not come in last place. Regardless of my finishing, I know it will be a blast!
Ouch!
Buy that man a drink. That's gotta hurt.
Mark Ewers
I may not be fast, but I'm 2 old 2 go slow
getting ready
to open my second Boulevard Wheat.
Good stuff.
Did night ride at Binder after the "race" too. That was a real blast.
BTW the picture really does not do this thing justice! I am sure I will be posting a nice "bruise" shot tomorrow.
I love this sport!
You're hooked!
Ah yes, it sounds like you have the cross bug. It is a great sport isn't it? Maybe you can come to town and try some of the Bubba series races. First one is October 15.
I hope that rasberry gets better in time for the next race. For sure, you don't want to take you attention away from the mount, that is a critical time for concentration even if you are good at it.
Another skill to develope is buny hopping those barriers. Only the most skilled riders can do this consistantly though.
A guy could definately bunny hop these
but the coordinator (LBS owner) knew this (I think) and therfore arranged them about 10 feet apart so that it would have been much slower to do so....and it would be really hard to do it lap after lap when the TSS points are racking up.
We were using the PVC pipe design you hooked me up with.
The other thing was, I didnt want to be the guy that tried to bunnyhop the barrier and look cool, but instead came up short and shattered the barrier on the first practice race. As it turns out I provided a laugh for everyone anyway.
Yeah, I think I could totally get hooked on this. I will have to come up for a race or two.
I am finding other bumps and bruises this morning from that little incidend. I am sure I will heal up enough to ride tonight....but not without a bit of pain....man I wish I had shaved my legs!
Cross Rocks
I'm not looking back to the road season. To me the long hot summer is all about getting ready for cross season. When the weather turns cool, that's when I'm just coming into form.
Cross Rox!!