Raced Dekalb Cyclocross on Sunday. SUCH a great course. Half Acre really outdid themselves. I had a lot of fun.

I'm still getting back into the swing of cross. I'm slowly remembering how to ride off-road, how to navigate sharp corners without braking. Slowly is the key word - the last lap of my second race, and I'm finally starting to get it.

I was called up to the front of the line in seventh place - good spot. I thought I was doing OK in the sprint, until we hit the first corners, then I realized I was WAY too far back, trapped behind some slower riders.


Like this awesome chick racing her commuter bike with the rack still on. I worked my way through and around quite a few women. Coach had told me that when passing, sprint by so the racer doesn't think she can catch my wheel. That worked well for me.


By the end of the second lap, I'd dropped everyone near me and was desperately chasing my own teammate Natalie. No one else was even in sight at this point. I'd get close to her, then we'd hit the barriers and I'd fall back. I'd get close again, more barriers. She successfully held me off and we finished ninth and tenth. Not the placing I wanted, but good enough.

My teammate Julia - the cyclocross phenom - won. She's applied for her upgrade, but it hadn't come through. I was GIDDY when I found out that my other teammate, Courtney, finished second! Looks like xXx has a chance to take the women's cat 4 cross cup for a second year in a row. That would be cool.

Photos by Luke Seemann. Thanks, Luke!