The first full weekend of cyclocross racing is complete.  The opening race of the NYCROSS.com Series, Kirkland CX, was held Sunday at Kirkland Town Park in Clinton  NY. Kirkland CX is traditionally the NYCROSS opening race. It always a fun and usually a fast race course through the field and trails at the park. This year seemed to be a little dryer than usual, but the park still hold the same wet spots throughout the course. With this race being the second race of the weekend for me, I was more tired than I thought I would be. But overall I rode pretty well and rode each lap pretty clean. Even the long run-up was clean and right back on the bike at the top of the steps. That didn’t happen in past years. I always had to keep running (or walking) up the little hill at the top of the stairs. I finished -1 lap in 18th. I wanted a better result, but I’ll take whatever I get.

The weekend started Saturday in Rochester, NY with the Rochester Cyclocross event..the season opener for UCI points for the pro’s. The amateur racing was on the same course, one that I had never raced on before. I wasn’t sure what Genesee Valley Park had to offer, and I was not disappointed either. It was a fun, fast, flowing, rolling terrain course with stairs, two run-ups, a run-down, and just about everything that you would want in a cyclocross course. It was also in a region of New York that I haven’t raced in before, so the majority of the other racers were new to me too. As hard as this race was for me, I rode well and had a great time racing in Rochester. I finished -1 lap in 27th place, and probably a little better than I expected.

There’s also one thing that I noticed with my racing this weekend..none of the run-ups hurt. I didn’t struggle with any of them. As much as I dislike running, incorporating running into my training 1 time a week has been a huge improvement for me. Now, if I can just knock a little bit off my lap times…