thescrawnycyclist

For your blogging interest, my race report for the Hillbilly Hustle cyclocross race near Collingwood.

First, let me set the scenario for the weather. It's overcast, chilly, with a lovely north wind coming off the lake. To give you an idea, I was wearing the following clothing articles: long-sleeve base layer, wind-blocking long sleeve mid-layer, long-sleeve jersey, fleece-lined bib knickers, wool socks, wind-blocking midweight gloves, and a skull cap. And I was still a bit chilled. Oh, and to top it off, it was sleeting. I know winter is coming, but so soon?

Anyways, the course was pretty much dry, somewhat long, wet grass and a few small puddles but nothing that couldn't be avoided. Most of the course was flat and power-oriented, with a couple long climbs, a semi-forced run-up, a spiral, and a short section on singletrack thrown in for fun.

I got off to a pretty good start, head-to-head for the holeshot and sitting second or third wheel for much of the first lap, but then things went downhill from there. We caught up to the bulk of the M3's coming into the singletrack, which created a bottleneck. After the first lap, I was not coping well with the wind and the chill; technically, I think I was riding very well (except for the singletrack), but it just felt like I could not put down any power, so I dropped down to 4th wheel with no chance of recovery. To be honest, with the guys who ended up podium, I think I would have ended up 4th anyways, but I'd rather feel like I had to earn that spot.

So I ended up 4th, no consolation prize this time. I will stand on that podium by the season's end.