Sunday rider

I talked my wonderful husband into riding with me on Sunday. He wanted to go no more than an hour and I had 2 hours planned, so we compromised at 90 minutes.

The first cyclocross race of the season was yesterday. We wanted to check it out, so we got to Fairport Harbor early and went for a ride beforehand. We rode through mostly flat roads from Grand River through Perry and back. The wind was at our backs for most of the ride out, but we had to turn around eventually. Wind has always been hard for me mentally. I think I should be able to go faster, but can't. Of course, I had my dear husband blocking for me, so it wasn't too bad. I asked him if he thought it was windy and he said "I've seen worse. Look, the flag isn't even blowing over there, so it isn't as windy as you think it is." Eureka moment for me! I've decided that if the trees aren't blowing then I can't call it windy. He did warn that things would be different as we got back to Grand River. And, he was right of course. The trees were blowing, so I'm legitimately calling that part windy!

We barely made it back to the parking lot without interrupting the cyclocross race that had just started. My feet were little frozen stones that I could no longer feel, but I really wanted to check out the race. Amy (former CTC club president) was there to watch her husband compete in his first race, so we watched it together. If you have never seen one of these, do check one out sometime. Riders complete as many circuits of a marked course as they can in the allotted time (beginners go 30 minutes, intermediate for 1 hour and experts for 90 minutes). They ride mountain bikes or special cyclocross bikes (kind of a cross between mountain and road bike - major advantage is lightness of bike). The course went through sand, grass, hills, steps, etc. At a few points along the way, riders have to get off and carry their bikes over obstacles. You must have good mounting/dismounting skills. Falling down was common too, so there can be no fear. I don't have a mountain bike, so I don't see this in my near future. It was fun to watch though!