Cyclocross... Euro-Style

So I found out last week that there was an international UCI C2 Cyclocross race here in Niederanven, the town I live in in Luxembourg, right around the corner so to speak. As it was so close I decided to give it a shot… Well, I’ve got four words for you: fast, pain, cold and mud. I experienced a lifetime worth of all of these today! But first things first.

Winter finally hit somewhen last week with snow and all. Over night, we got another dusting but the snow didn’t stay but turned the course into one big puddle; I guess we ended up in about 8 to 10 inches of the stuff. Now, the mud we have here isn’t your typical Texas-mud. Here, it is really gooey and sticky, clinging to everything and making riding a hell of a lot harder than if it was dry. So besides turning the downhills into something more suitable for skis, it also made a big part of the course absolutely unridable. Those who know me are aware that I HATE running, so you get the picture. Not to mention that the bike was about 20 pounds heavier after two laps or so (and I for one do not have multiple bikes parked in the material-depot).

Oh, and did I mention that it was just not cold enough for the darn ground to stay frozen? So mud it was with a temperature in the low 30s. So much for the mud and cold part.

Next up: fast. Guess what: apparently everyone in Europe was bored this weekend and decided to head over to this one race (except the really fast guys from Belgium and the Netherlands). Just to give you an idea: we had multiple national champions line up, among them the champs Germany, Demark, Luxembourg, France and the Belgium champion (without contract, i.e. ONLY the amateur champ…). Enough said.

Add the former three points together and mix in a ton of climbing and what do you get? PAIN. Fortunately, it didn’t last too long. I got pulled after 45 min with 2 laps to go when the leaders caught up with me and lapped me (Figure that: they ran away from me…).

All in all it was a fun (but cold) experience with lots of spectators and a cool atmosphere. I don’t know where I came in but I’m afraid it wasn’t enough to earn some UCI points (not that I expected to get any). Oh, and the fact that cross races are free here in Luxembourg made at least the financial consequences bearable. Still, I think I’ll stay away from cross for a while (at least racing) until I start training at a little higher intensity. Just being pack-fodder isn’t too much to my liking.

Some pics of the fun should follow shortly.