While nearly everyone else I know is frantically trying to get their cyclocross bike up and running, I'm still in mountain bike mode. True, the SoCal Cyclocross Series kicked off last weekend, but Rim Nordic put the MTB race season into overtime by hosting the Autumn Cup XC on the same day. I raced the latter, and I'm glad I did. The weather was perfect with temps in the mid 80s, the race course was fun and challenging, and the mountain lion I saw trotting across the trail was more interested in the rabbit in its mouth than it was me. Luckily, I saw Ms. Cougar in the last two miles of race - otherwise I might have thought twice about heading back into the forest to complete another lap.
Two other Pros crossed the finish line before me, but considering I've been spending lots of time trying to get the Redlands Interscholastic Cycling Organization (RICO) off the ground and less time training, I cool with my result. So as many of my peers will be spending next weekend hopping barriers and going anaerobic in hour-long intervals, I'm headed for the high country of the Sierras for Everest Challenge - a two-day stage race with more than 29,000 vertical feet of climbing. A different kind of ouch!
Two other Pros crossed the finish line before me, but considering I've been spending lots of time trying to get the Redlands Interscholastic Cycling Organization (RICO) off the ground and less time training, I cool with my result. So as many of my peers will be spending next weekend hopping barriers and going anaerobic in hour-long intervals, I'm headed for the high country of the Sierras for Everest Challenge - a two-day stage race with more than 29,000 vertical feet of climbing. A different kind of ouch!
