This past weekend saw the Georgia Cross series descend on the Conyers International Horse Park (in Conyers, GA). The course was quite challenging, and long, with each lap coming in at approximately 2.1 miles. This course was a PR for me, in the fact this was the first race I did not get lapped in! Check out the view of the course with some pointers to some of the more interesting sections.

During the race, I had some minor bike issues (they were not performance limiting bike issues!) At the last race I raced in, Beat the Freak Cyclocross Series #1, while waiting for the race to start, my bike got knocked over by the wind. Turns out it fell on the real derailer and completely bent it. When I shifted to the lowest gear, the dereailer would hit the the spokes on the wheels – not good! I was still able to be in all gears, so this was just something I had to keep in mind as I raced. I’ve since got the problem fixed, so I’m good to go for next Sunday’s race!

I can definitely tell that my fitness is not up to par for doing these races. I felt pretty good the first lap, but by the time the second lap rolled around, I was hurting pretty badly. The 2 part hill was the roughest part. I sprinted up the hill carrying my bike, and felt fine as I was doing it, but I paid the price once I got back on! I had to ride in recovery mode for a little while. The third and final lap I took the hill slower and felt much better afterwards. One of these days I’ll get my fitness back and won’t feel so tired! With my luck though that will come the last race of the reasons! The good news is that coming into the final straightaway on the last lap I was in a pack of 3 people, and was able to outsprint them all to beat them to the line.

It’s hard to gauge improvement from week to week since each course is so very different, so instead, I’m trying to track improvement based on who I’m beating / being beat by. In addition, I’m going to track based on my relative position out of the number of competitors. With Georgia Cross #1, 87% of the competitors beat me. In Georgia Cross #2, only 83% of the field beat me. Win! Hopefully this week will see me break into the 70% range. If not, oh well, I’m still having a blast no matter how I finish.

Next race is on Sunday (tomorrow by the time you read this! :)) and I hope to actually have that race report up in a more timely manner!