Friday, September 30, 2005

Cross is awesome

Okay there was definitely something wrong with my back tire in Michigan on Sunday. Last night I rode out to Badger Prairie to contemplate the course for our upcoming race (no I haven't finalized the course yet but it will be a little different). My tire was fine while I was riding out and I had it at 60psi. However, once I got to the trails I let some air out of the tire so as to not get bounced all over on those great bumpy trails. So I let air out and all was good but after about 10 minutes of riding my back tire felt low so I stopped to check. The tire had about 10psi in it but I just assumed that I had let too much out so I pumped it up. About 10 minutes later it felt really low again but I just assumed that I had not put enough air in as I am not the most energetic with the mini-pump so I pumped it up again. This time I made sure it had sufficient air and even put in a little more than I would normally use. However, about 10 minutes later it felt low again so I stopped and put in more air. That was pretty much the whole ride. Ride, put air in the tire, ride, put air in the tire . . . you get the drift. I have no idea what the problem is but I no longer think it was my fault the tire had virtually no air left in it at the end of the UCI race on Sunday. I guess it would be a good idea to have a spare wheelset for the future (a spare bike would be great but I'm not made out of money). By Sunday's race at Delafield I think I better figure out what is wrong with my Tufo or I better install the tires I bought as backups.

You know what is so cool about cross? All the great people you meet. The gals I raced against in Detroit were really friendly and nice. I wished they all raced here in Wisconsin so I could get to know them better and to make our women's fields all that much bigger. I thought it was cool that Lisa came all the way from Pennsylvania to do the race. I always admire people who are into cross enough to spend their time and money going to races all over the place. Anne from the Ann Arbor Velo Club is also with a team called "Speedy Chix" . . . how cool is that name!! She's in her 40s but has tons of enthusiasm about cross and I only hope that I'm as fast as her in 10 years. Of course, I wanted to out sprint Leslie but it was just fun to be back in a situation where you're racing right with someone and trying to figure out what you can do to beat them. I haven't been in that situation in so long that I almost forgot what it was like. I really learned a lot from riding a couple laps right with her and seeing all the things she did so much better than I did. The other gals were really nice as well as were all the other people that I met in Michigan. That's why I love going to cross races!! The host family for my teammates Bjorn, Jacob and Matt even treated them and Dave and I to dinner before we left to hit the road back to Wisconsin. They also cheered for me on Sunday when I really needed some cheering and I really appreciate that!! They made me feel like a real Elite racer even though it was my first A race ever and I wasn't looking too "pro" out there. Cross rules!!

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home