National CX - Mud Day 1

CX Happy Face

Mud, glorious mud! Mud can turn an already awesome cyclocross race into a grinning like a maniac, having fun like a ten year old kid event! And mud is what Adelaide brought to the National Cyclocross Championships! There was even a bit left over for the Round 5 of the National Cyclocross Race Series the next day! How could we not be grinning like idiots?

Mud!

If you haven't worked it out, last weekend Mr Carl and I decided to attend the awesome CX festival that was the National Cyclocross Championships on the Saturday and Round 5 of the National Cyclocross Race Series of the Sunday. We were racing both days, which is always an interesting proposition, as well as bringing out the cameras to capture people playing in the mud.


 

Clear and Cold

The weather leading up to the event had been wet and cold, Adelaide seems to be enjoying a fairly wet winter and the ground has not had much of a chance to dry out. The day before the race the temperature only reached 12.6°C, with the day of the race reaching a maximum of 14.1°C. To sum up, it was freezing!

PACC Crew Boss

As usual the Port Adelaide Crew had been out early setting up the course. The same couldn't be said for Carl and I, I think the freezing temperatures made getting out of bed difficult and by the time we arrived I barely had time for a warm up lap! Admittedly I think I would have needed many more warm up laps than I could have done in the warm up period to actually get warm, but at least I got a look at the course. As it was I was a bit late to the start line (but not last) to join the Masters 30+ Women, but in the end everybody made it to the start and then we took off. 

Concentration is key

Well at least I tried to, the cold really doesn't agree with me and my legs felt like concrete. Still, I kept making them go round long after the other riders in my group were out of sight. On the plus side, the way this race was structured meant that the 40+ and 50+ riders started in waves about 30 seconds behind the 30+ group, so I had company for a while. 
  

Another cheerful face - Kel! 
(not at the back)

Actually for much of the race, the effervescent Abbey-Leigh was just behind me and the way that the course twisted and turned meant that we were often able to cheer each other on! We're a cheerful mob at the back.

Up Mulch Hill - the hard way!

There were two muddy highlights within the race that kept all of us on our toes, firstly Mulch Hill and secondly the Forest of Doom. I think Mulch Hill was the more difficult of the two, with the approach to the hill consisting of a slushy mud puddle that would be perfect for mud wrestling toddlers. This was followed by a slippery, organic surface that we had to climb somehow. 

The other hard way

On my practice lap I had almost fallen numerous times trying to climb the left hand side so in the race I tried the right hand side and managed to get up, just. The Forest of Doom on the other hand, was more of a deep, loamy mud, the kind that developed it's own sense of direction which usually resulted in me narrowly missing trees!

Forest of DOOM!

Where do I go from here?

Two and a half laps and about 20 minutes into the so called 35 minute race, my legs finally decided that they didn't mind this whole bike riding business so why was I going so slow? I'm actually not kidding, my slowest lap time was my first and my fastest was my last. Anyway, this was kinda convenient as one of the 50+ riders, who is an awesome mountain biker, was closing fast. She managed to pass me, but I held on and passed her back, completing my third lap just in front of the riders coming in to finish. 

Racing in the mud!

Unfortunately, this meant I had to do another lap, which, while it may have been my fastest, wasn't fast enough to hold her off as she passed me once more. I tried to hold on, but my legs had decided they weren't talking to me again, so I was happy just to roll to the finish upright! On the plus side, I hadn't been lapped!

Smile - it's over!

Mr Carl's race started shortly after they got the last rider (me) of the course, but I had enough time to ride to the start line and wish him well. Then it was off to grab the camera! I still haven't worked out if it's more fun to be suffering in the race or taking photos of people suffering, either way it wasn't a bad way to spend the afternoon. 
 

Playing in the mud!

I got a few good shots of people, cheered my friends on, and generally enjoyed the carnival like atmosphere of the day. As the sun fell lower in the sky and it started to get colder, the final race came to a close and Carl and I headed out to help the crew bring the course in. After everything was neat and tidy (well as good as we could get it) we headed home for some serious bike cleaning and a shower!

Just a little bit of cleaning, right?

Hello Stem, how you doing?

One thing I did notice, after getting home and looking at the photos, was that a lot of people were looking pretty much at their bike stems (me included) when they were riding. I had been practising trying to look where I was going in recent mountain biking adventures and realised that I ought to be doing the same for CX. This was doubly confirmed in conversation with some of the more skilled (Aimee) CX women, who told me the same thing. This sounded like a goal for the next day! 

I've added a few extra photos from the day, enjoy!