Cheshire CX
Around this time last year I headed to Kutztown for a day of cross racing. The course was fun but not really my style, more fitness and less technical. That same day my mate Tim Willis had raced Cheshire in CT. The pics and feedback sounded much more like my jam, half of the course was some techy mountain bike single track. Sweeeeet. So this year I made sure my limited cross season contained this race.
Having no intensity fitness and all the early base miles in my legs made for a difficult race, fitness wise. Tim returning for a second year nailed the hole shot (eventually taking a well earned second) and I sat in for third wheel coming round the sharp right hander. From there on out I lost ground on the fitness parts and made ground (well, didn't get over taken) on the techy bits. I had a good bout of 'cross back' through lack of core exercises and at times wished I had a puncture but stayed in and held on for 17th, finishing above mid pack. Happy with that.
It was an awesome day out, hanging with friends and getting our heckle on. Cheshire has to be the best place for heckling. They have a super tech, short steep climb in the woods that was lined with some very energetic folks, all there to cheer us on. To give you an idea, a full sized drunken ewok, shark, bass drum and cymbal player along with several other vuvuzela & trumpeters all flanked the muddy banks, screaming at the top of their lungs, inches away from riders at their max heart rate picking their race winning lines. The intense combination of the spectators and maxed out riders made for a great spectacle. See you again next time, Cheshire.
