There was about three weeks between my last mountain bike race and my first cyclocross race of the season. During that time between, I spent a lot of time on my cross bike getting my cx specific technique back. I wanted to make sure that I was ready for the first race. Cat 1/2/3 is tough enough, I didn’t want to trip over a barrier or crash on a re-mount. Three weeks later and I’m as ready as I’m going to be.

Cyclocross @ Brewery Ommegang was stop #2 on the NYCROSS.com series schedule. It’s also in Cooperstown, NY, which is a great town to visit…Baseball Hall of Fame, Doubleday Field, Otesaga Hotel, Glimmerglass Opera and of course, Brewery Ommegang. The race is held on the grounds of the brewery. The course had some long fast straights with a lot of tight twists and turns as you would expect. The one set of man made barriers were set up, I thought, in a strange place…immediately after a 180 degree left turn with a 180 degree right turn immediately following the barriers.

I was nervous going to the race with this being my first Cat 1/2/3 race. Upgrading to Cat 3 put me with the fast guys…the really fast guys. But I held my own, rode well and got some experience that I wouldn’t get if I was still racing Cat 4. I finished 15th in the Cat 1/2/3 Masters 45+ and 32nd overall Masters. Overall I feel good about my race. My average lap time was way off the pace, but it was right in line with the average Cat 4 times. So upgrading and racing Cat 1/2/3, I will be able to challenge myself much more.