i (heart) cross

so, i did my first cross race this past sunday. and boy oh boy, do i ever (heart) cross. seriously, it was probably the most difficult race i've ever done. there is just no time for coasting and resting, at least with this course. perhaps the fact that i did this one on a single speed may have had something to do with that too. whenever there could have been room for a bit of coasting i still have to spin to keep the speed just slightly above a snails pace.

about the bike: ghetto speed converted into pseudo-ghetto cross. john says it can't be ghetto anymore because i spent money on it, point duly noted. anyway, big thanks to john for letting me use his basement, and jeff and matt for their bike fixage knowledge helpage extraordinaire. without you jokers the pseudo-cross wouldn't be. so the story goes...saturday i spent running around to the shops and getting the necessary parts for cheap to jimmy together a cheap single. to save you the boring details, the most notable change is drop bars. yep, single speed with drop bars, and non-aero brake levers to top it all off. needless to say, it's pretty hot.

so, lindsay, jeff and i rolled down to the village of east davenport for the race in lindsay park. beautifully laid out course. i don't know any better, but it sure seemed fun to me. ma, margo, sandy, jean, and phil were nice enough to come out and see us in action. i raced the c race, as that was where they put us foolish singles. turns out though, i wasn't the only one who thought it would be fun to rock cross single. i think the field had about 8 singles. i finished 5th, with which i am very happy, as there were some strong riders in the bunch. jeff had a solid race in his first cross jaunt too. he rolled in the b race, and looked like he enjoyed it. my one regret is that i didn't race a second race in the b class with the other mtn bikes. they may have had gears, but technically, my monstrosity is still a mtn bike. and no, matt, it is not "attrocious." and that, my friends, is why...
I (HEART) CROSS.