Deja Vu near Denver...Mongers at the Boulder Cross Series

Well, well, well...what are the chances that lightning could strike twice?  Some of you may remember my tragic story of signing up for the wrong race at DCCX last autumn and how lonely I felt racing against the mid Atlantic's best riders...well I have been struck again.

Alissa and I went on a fabulous two week road trip following the Wageson-fest.  The goal of this trip was to visit Alissa's friends in Boulder, CO and make stops between here and there to check things out.  I thought it might be fun to race in Colorado and see what the cross scene was like so I contacted the promoters of the Boulder CX series.  I told them that I race Master C's in Oregon and asked which race I should sign-up for?  They have a much different category system then we do.  He replied to my email that the 35+ Open category would meet my age and it was well open. 

It sounded harmless enough...you know a bunch of over 35s racing around a course showing off a variety of skills.  Damn it my actually be fun I thought.  Think again, my race went off at 1:30pm and as I lined up I started to notice some really fancy, shinny cycling gear on everyone but myself.  I got a sneaking suspicion that my bike was worth less than some of their skin suits.  Oh shit not again1?!   In speaking with a fellow rider I learned that this was the right category Open 35+ but that it was full of old A/professional riders.  Sweet! 

Anyway, the gun went off and there I was by myself again...whoosh everyone was gone in a flash!  The course was flat, sandy and dusty with some technical logs to cross so I thought that I would just ride my ride.  It was fun and even though I was not rubbing elbows I was racing against getting lapped.

 Somewhere around lap two or three my race goal came into view.  Another fella was in over his head or he had a cramp.  I was gaining ground on him and I figured if I 'could not DFL' that would suffice.  I eventually passed this guy and made sure that this Beermonger did not finish last, yipppeee!  However, the smile faded as the lead riders caught me on lap 5, whoops.

So here is what I have learned about racing far from home where the categories may be different.  Rule 1 - Forget the categories
Rule 2 - If you race in the morning in Oregon you are probably going to race in the morning everywhere else too.  This is a much better determinat of which race you should sign-up for then the category.
Rule 3 - Not all Cross scenes are as fun, friendly, and laid back as the PDX/Oregon scene.  These dudes in Colorado were serious and even though we were within 15 miles of 10 or so breweries I saw no post race beers being enjoyed on a sunny day. 

I am happy to be racing with my fellow Mongers in Oregon now.