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Today I raced the CX3 race again up at Columbia. This course was a bit different than Saturday and had some mild single-track sections, but was still very fast.

I got off to a better start and rode a good race. After lots of back and forth I ended up into the last barriers with Cal Hill (from Memphis) and a Nashville Cyclist racer. Unfortunately, I wasn’t so quick on getting clipped into my pedals (one of my most consistent problems) and was chasing those two the last bit small bit off the course. Right before the finish, the course had a hairpin turn on the grass followed by an uphill sprint. I closed some of the distance, but it ended up Cal 4th, the Nashville Cyclist racer 5th (0.5 second), and me 6th: 3 seconds behind. Two more were behind us in our field.

This weekend featured some great racing and some good fast power courses. I know if I could make some adjustments to get to the pedals quicker (I am thinking I need to get a set back seatpost since I have the seat all the way back already…I moved it 3/4″ back for Sunday and it helped.. ) The CX3 races are crazy competitive and some good fields have been showing up. The winner was in a different class and he put 90 seconds in the next guy. All the rest were spread out by 10 seconds or so. After 45-50 minutes that is pretty good. Some guys get out there and blow up (like about 3-4 that I passed) and some get out there and blow up and then recover… (like Cal).

Looking at the results from Saturday. The included the lap times… It is good to see that my upgrade to CX3 was not in vain. I would have won the CX4 races at a similar pace and it was shorter. When I upgraded, I had a string of last place (albeit in small fields) for the CX3. I think it pretty much had to do with the amount / intensity of the weight training I was doing. In January, I am working around the racing and the type of lifting I am doing is not that taxing (like the 4×10 reps I was doing in Oct/Nov, for example).

My first lap was 6:39 (it is shorter). After that, I ran 7:22, 7:26, 7:34, 7:21, 7:31, and 7:29. That is the type of race I like to run where I stay pretty much the same and don’t fade. The 7:21 was probably when I was chasing down someone in front of me.

These races are giving me some great limited doses of effort and I know that I will be the better for it. Plus it is a lot of fun.

Racing continues next week at States (Nashville, 1/13), Columbia #3/#4 (1/19 & 1/20), and Chattanooga #2 (1/26).