First Cyclocross race attempt full of awesome.

After doing really well in Alleycat races I started to feel like a jerk. They're great, really fun, and I'll continue to race them, but taking all my competitive energy out on a group of my friends in a non-serious race seems unfair. So after MUCH deliberation I decided to try cyclocross for my first real competitive sporting event since... 10th grade lacrosse? (which was an epic fail). I dislike the idea of just pedaling...pedaling...pedaling until you want to die, which is how I see roadracing, and I suck enough at mountainbiking that I would actually die if I went into that competitively, so Cyclocross is the perfect compromise! It's a freak sport where you take a road bike and strap mountain tires on it then go really fast and fall over when the course is hard. Oh yeah, and when the course is REALLY hard then you're encouraged to jump off and run! I had a tremendous time, needless to say.

By sand:


Running around like a sissy:


Good ol' pavement:


I registered in the beginners category and did really well. I got off to an ok start and slowly gunned past people whenever I had a chance, never getting passed. After 2 or 3 laps of holding 3rd place they called the last lap, which I made it halfway through before getting a flat. I wobbled along on my flat tire and got passed by everyone I had worked hard to sneak around before. They were all super-nice though and asked what had happened, commiserating in my hobbling state. At the end of it all I got 8th.
Sadly bumbing to the finish:


Thanks to Tom for coming and taking pictures, and to Chris for trying it out (he hated it, but then again he knows how to ride a bike properly so that makes sense). It was a great way for the first race to go, I can't wait to do it again!