Alpenrose Dairy in southwest Portland. Opening day of the 2010 Cross Crusade series. It was a pleasant but overcast day with cowbells ringing and aromas of hot steel cut oats, waffles, and french fries wafting from the expo area.
Since I finished in the top five overall last year, I was lucky enough to get called up to the front of the start line. As I surveyed the sea of women amassed behind me, I was grateful not to be at the back of the pack. "That is a lot of women on bikes!" I thought to myself.
The start whistle blew and in about 20 seconds about 20 riders had already passed me. I'm a terrible starter. I've never been quick off the blocks, either in running or cycling. On a day like today, a good start would come in handy. After just a few hundred yards, we dropped into a rutted and dusty technical descent that curved through a horse pasture and made a 6-inch drop in a 180-degree turn at the bottom before climbing steeply back to the velodrome.
The first lap is always chaos as the field inevitably bottlenecks in a technical or narrow section. Today was no exception, but I managed to circumvent a crash at the bottom of the hill and power my way up past several riders. For the rest of the lap, though, it seemed like I just got passed. A lot. I was not having a good race.
By lap three, the tables were starting to turn. Those who went out hard were starting to tire and fade. I still felt strong and focused on riding clean lines and taking advantage of passing opportunities. The two climbs on the course were my best friends; every lap I passed at least a couple people on each climb.
Unfortunately, they would often pass me back as I struggled to remount my bike after a barrier run. I've never been known for my grace or coordination, and the dismount and "superman" mount unique to cyclocross do not come easily.
In the end, I was satisfied with my 7th-place finish (out of almost 70 riders in my field). But the best part of the day was seeing so many women having fun riding bicycles. I can't even remember who, but after the race someone was telling about watching the from the top of the velodrome. The course enters the velodrome and snakes its way around in a series of spirals and s-turns before exiting. From above, you see a steady stream of lycra flowing in a pattern.
"The velodrome was full of women," my friend said. Awesome!
