Worlds.... and oh yeah, Nationals

 It was an opportunity I couldn't pass up.  Cyclocross World Championships in the U.S.  Within driving distance.  And what turned out to be 50-60 degree sunny weather.  Arkansas here I come.  Well, came and went by now.  The last weekend in January I hitched my wagon to Peter's wagon and we trucked (Compact SUV'd) to Fayetteville (actually stayed in Bentonville).  Peter is an industry man (Watch out for his Eliel kit) and I tagged along for the ride.

Besides actual racing I'm a pretty big pro racing nerd.  I know all the top names and still swoon over my selfie with 3 time world champ Sanne Cant from 2018.  It was an event that I waivered on due to Covid but made the 9 hour drive and had a great time.  We brought our gravel bikes and got in a couple local rides as well (The maiden voyage for my new Crux gravel/cross combo).

I imagine most everyone reading this has been to an actual bike race.  Probably a crit.  This was a very similar watching experience.  The racers would roll by every 7 or 8 minutes and you scream and depending on your spot could maybe watch the rest of the lap on one of the jumbo trons.  The course was very spread out and we decided to keep moving to check out the different parts of the course.  I was in geek mode as we spotted Allen Lim from Skratch Labs, almost literally bumped into Canadian National Champ Maghalie Rochette (shoulda gotten a selfie dang it) and ended up chatting with a guy who turned out to be Tyler Hamilton.

Watching a race on tv you can actually follow the race action.  Being on site it was more about being in the moment without the narrative.  In a way it is like racing.  I have no idea what is happening in a race except for the guys right around me.  Even the guys behind me I don't really know what is happening.  until the course folds back on itself.  In Fayetteville we would just wait for the leader(s) to roll by and see what had changed since the last lap.  Cross races are timed so you don't really know how many laps there will be until 2 laps in and if you can't hear the announcers or see the jumbo tron you just kinda guess based on the start time.  And I can't count laps to save my life so it makes it that much more of an adventure.

Logistics onsite aside it was a great weekend.  There were 3 races each day (We missed the junior races each day though because we were riding) and an incredible atmosphere.  I can't imagine where they would have put everyone had this been a non-Covid year.  On the recommendation of a couple guys from Specialized we parked the second day near a trailhead to avoid the shuttle bus.  Besides the 25 minutes it took us to "ride" our gravel bikes up this mt bike trail, the parking lot had a drive thru coffee hut called Bikini Coffee.  And as we left after the racing we peeked inside this hut and there was a barista actually wearing a 2 piece bikini.  Ah, Arkansas.

Oh, Nationals.  I sent out a short video of the last 2 minutes of my race a long time ago (I'm way late on this post).  Nationals was fabulous and rough both on and off the course.  How cool to have Nationals in our back yard.  And I raced ok.  26th out of 48 but was the second Cat 4 to cross the line.  Passing 3 guys in the last 2 minutes is like playing a really crappy round of golf but then nailing the last shot.  You can't wait to get back out there.

While I didn't know it at the time I had Covid and ended up missing the Elites race on Sunday which was a huge bummer.  And because I have a EuroSport subscription and not FloBikes I still haven't seen the racing.  Ugh!  If anyone really wants a play-by-play let's go find a local establishment.  Otherwise, let's get ready for North Carolina and for a new set of warm days this summer!