2022 CX #7 – Capital ‘Cross Classic – That’s All Folks!

Looney Tunes cartoons are the best ever. Huge fan!

This past Sunday’s Capital ‘Cross Classic was the traditional closer for the Mid Atlantic cyclocross season. It was a really nice day, sunny and cold-ish (30s in the morning) which is proper ‘cross temperature compared to the 70 degrees the last time I raced two weeks ago at the Really Rad Festival of Cyclocross on the cape. In reality, my season was already over given I was off the bike for two weeks and had little aerobic exercise in the interim. Sadly fitness departs quickly at my age…

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining about spending a week in Barcelona followed by a four day Feisty Girl delivery (I mean DOLPHINS!), but it was inopportune from a cyclocross fitness standpoint. However, I really love the vibe of the Capital ‘Cross Classic so I was going to do it regardless. Here’s some nice drone footage of part of the course as it transitions from one side of Lake Fairfax to another. Really cool.

As has become my tradition, I raced the 40+ 3/4/5 in the morning as my “real” race, followed by the 60+ at 1pm in my elf suit as my “fun” race. And part of the fun race is doing the Fireball shots in the back part of the course (right before going down a tricky chute!) and egging on the crowd with “Santa’s not going to be happy with my whiskey breath” comments. That’s cyclocross in the US! I composed a Haiku that pretty much describes the day:

I raced my bike twice.
Once for real. Once as an elf.
Breath smells like Fireball.

Some “real” action. Well, as real as it could get with the fitness I had.

Really not much to say about the racing other than I was quite slow. It did take me some time to finally get going in the 40+ but I did grind my way back slightly and ended up 41/63, probably 10-15 places back from what I might have been able to achieve with top fitness.

Starting to really suffer half way through the second race after a few fireball handups. Photo Credit: Sue Estes

Of course the 60+ race was a complete fun event with the elf suit and I finished accordingly, 26/33. Surprisingly, the fleece suit holds in a lot of heat but fortunately it was not too hot with it on. I saw Gunnar Shogren as we were warming up and I told him to think twice about lapping me because he’d get coal in his stocking if he did. He laughed and said “I like coal!”. Good thing because he almost lapped me twice (and was the only one to get 6 laps). I don’t feel too bad about that because he just finished 2nd in the 60+ field at Nationals in Hartford today.

The ABRT tent and a singlespeed rider with jorts!

We brought an ABRT tent, and after our races we hung out all day watched some racing and drank some beer.

Caught on the @cxhairs Insta Story being awed by Eric Brunner hopping the barriers.

My goal was to do 10 races this season, so mission accomplished. Unfortunately, many of the weekends were light with only one race per weekend this year as there were a few races with venue and post pandemic issues. Additionally, I missed two weekends due to the travel. Next year, I’d really like to do a “full season”, but we’ll have to see how it unfolds. If I’ve learned anything, it is to be flexible and take life as it comes.