CX in TX

Photo courtesy Monskat

October is here which means I could finally get back in the saddle for cyclocross racing. Although many of my teammates are already deep into cyclocross season in Wisconsin, the race series in Texas just kicked off last weekend.

Upon moving down to Austin, TX I didn't know what to expect in the race circuit. I moved in the middle of road season in Wisconsin, which means most of the racing is already wrapped up in Texas due to the hot temperatures. Although my road race season was pretty non-existent due to the move, I've been able to put in a lot of training miles on my Madone. Exploring a new area by bicycle is the best way to truly experience your surroundings. I was surprised by the many beautiful routes I can quickly access from my front door. Every ride also starts with great coffee and perfect breakfast tacos which are in abundance down here. If you didn't think of Austin as a riding destination before, you should definitely consider it for some warm weather winter training.

Needless to say, I was happy to be riding, but eager to get back to racing. After what seemed like a long time searching, I found out that cyclocross is actually pretty healthily supported down here. There is a popular race series, W.N.X (Wednesday Night Cyclocross) on, you guessed it, every Wednesday night in October and November near Dallas and a full weekend series October through December all throughout the state. Texas is big, so in order to accommodate people traveling far to the races, they run the full race schedule both Saturday and Sunday.

This weekend's race was in San Antonio. I packed up my Ion Pro, pulled out my brand new, unused Trek Midwest Team skin suit and drove the 1.5 hours to San Antonio. I didn't know what a cyclocross race in Texas would entail. First off, we don't get much rain here and did I mention it is really hot? I mean REALLY hot. The course in San Antonio was the longest CX loop I've ever raced. It included two double barrier sections on opposite ends of the course, a sandpit, what seemed like a thousand tight turns, plenty of stickers and prickers to puncture tires and a plethora of dust. The temperature was a toasty 95 degrees at race start.

I didn't have a strong start and was held up behind a group of riders as we headed into the first few turns and set of barriers. I was able to ride by the group on the first straight section and hold that position for the next two laps, staying on the rear wheel of first place. I took the lead heading into the bell lap, it was hard racing to maintain position and two of us had pulled away from the rest of the field. Into the last 1/4 of the final lap, I carried too much speed into a right hand corner and slid out on the dusty loose soil. I lost the leader and knew I wasn't going to get back to challenge at the line. I was able to clamor back onto my bike and now I was just hoping I could hold on and finish in second.

I completed my first Texas CX race with a second place finish and a huge smile. It sure feels good to be out representing Trek Midwest Team here in the Mid-South!

You can check out the Texas CX race series here:
http://texascx.com/schedule/