Glimpses of Cyclocross

My girlfriend just forwarded me a collection of Instagram photos she took this past Cross season. Even though the racing is over, it is fun to look back and remember the races. Enjoy!

Wet and Cold

Now that Cross season is over for the year, it is time to change gears and get into training time. I need to get building up for my first season as a Cat 2 on the road, since I will have some tough challenges ahead.
I have been trying to squeeze in some longer rides over the past few weekends so that the jump from Cross racing to road training isn't as harsh, but it is definitely still a change! Nothing like 4 hours in the saddle in the wet and cold Washington winter to harden you up for racing.
This past weekend I met up with the rest of the elite men to head up north and get some good training miles in. Heading up from Seattle we cut through Bothell and started to ride up to Everett. After riding through a lot of neighborhood roads, we were dumped out into the Snohomish valley and onto the rural farm roads. As we rode up to the southern end of Everett and then out to Snohomish, we battled against a killer headwind while trying to keep a high pace. We were making great time, and keeping the group together well until we were almost into Maltby. At this point, Dave, Doug, and I had fallen off the back of the group, unable to keep up with the high pace. The morning of cold and windy weather was now turning wet, and as we moved into Maltby, there were signs of snow on our jackets. We re-grouped shortly down the road at a gas station and everyone to the time to get re-fueled. Right as we were preparing to start up again we noticed that my front tire had gone flat - likely due to the small chunks of glass and other road debris all over the roads.
Once that was quickly changed, we started going again, heading out of the rain luckily. We were getting up to a decent pace again when suddenly we heard a metal snapping sound and everyone came to a halt. Matt's bike had popped the chain into the rear wheel, which ended up snapping off his rear derailleur. OUCH!
Joe and Doug spent a few minutes pulling the chain apart and setting up Matt's bike for a limp home single-speed conversion. He tested to make sure it worked and we were gearing up to start when we realized - I had another flat...
This time it was the rear, but still quite annoying to flat twice during a ride. (especially since I had flats in both wheels the previous weekend as well!) We changed the tube pretty quick and were once again on the move. As we rolled down into Woodinville, the temperature dropped noticeably. It was getting cold fast, and we were deciding it was time to get back home. We were partway through Woodinville when I again felt the small bouncing of a tire flat. Looking down, the rear we had just replaced was again sagging. So, unfortunately another stop and quickly changed out the tire again while chill set in. Once this was finished we got going again and finally made our way back into Seattle. A little over 4 hours of riding and over 60 miles of road travelled - How is that for a difference from a 50 minute Cross race! I think it is time to fill my rain-bike's tubes with sealant so that I don't have another incident like this down the road - I am done with having flats this year.
Next weekend I will be down in California for a nice little vacation and some warmer weather. Bringing a bike down, so I should have some good stories from riding down there as well. I'll take some photos too, so you have something cool to look at.