Next on my agenda is figuring out what I'm going to do this season. I really haven't had much of an off season. Instead, I've been riding my ass off in preparation for the Snake Creek Gap and Southern Cross. Unfortunately, I was only able to make it to one of the Snake Creek races. I felt pretty satisfied with my finishes at both races I've done this year. Now on to looking at what's ahead. I believe I'm pretty committed to doing the American UltraCross Endurance Series. Some of that is going to be dependent on whether I can get the guys from my team to join in with me. If we can all chip in together, we can make the trip a lot more affordable. The first race is on June 25th in Morgantown, WV. I have never ridden up in that area but from the course description, it sounds to be pretty insane! One thing I like about this series is that they are going to divide up the mountain bikes from the CX bikes. If that would have been done at Southern Cross, I would have finished 1st in the Singlespeed category. After the Morgantown race, the next race is the Three Peaks USA event in Beech Mountain, NC. This race is labeled as the hardest CX race in America. I've been to the Beech Mountain area and it's some rough terrain. After that, the series goes back up North to Pine Grove Furnace State Park for Iron Cross. This race has a history of having a huge turnout. After that, we'll have Southern Cross again in February. Between these races, I plan on committing to a standard CX race series in Tennessee and probably do the USGP race in Louisville, KY. Between now and then, I may enter a road race or two and possibly a few mountain bike events. We'll see as time comes but any of those events will be decided upon at the spur of the moment.
I know that's not much of a concrete calendar for right now but the amount of travel that these races will take is going to drain my budget significantly. If I'm only able to complete the UltraCross series and a local series, I'll be happy with my year. I love Cyclocross and I'm feeling bummed that there aren't anymore races in the near future. The CX bike is now hanging up in the bike room with no intent to be ridden for a while. Oh well. Time to get back to commuting Tues/Thur training rides.
"One thing I like about this series is that they are going to divide up the mountain bikes from the CX bikes. If that would have been done at Southern Cross, I would have finished 1st in the Singlespeed category."
ReplyDeleteYup, it's all about category wins, not ability. ;-)
I like the SS class to be the open, no holds (or bikes) barred free for all it should be. But then we'd have less winners in the world, and the world needs more winners. Just ask Charlie.
I agree with you about Singlespeed Class being an open class. I race my SS in my Category during regular CX season. However, during this UltraCross Series, I do like the fact that there are separate classes for MTB's and CX bikes. It kinda makes sense since it is a CX race.
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