Boom Island Report
From: Lee Penn
Date: Sep 6, 2007 11:20 AM
Loads of people showed up to the first Boom Island CX training night, and it
was hot and a total blast! There were around 10 other total newbies like me.
After riding 445 miles between Monday Aug 27th and Tuesday Sept 4th (my
family was out of town, for the week you see), I was TOASTED but ready to
learn some CX technique on my shiny new AXIS. The course was open before
the skills session, so a load of us just rode around the course. MAN - I am
NOT used to bumpy terrain!
For the skills session, we began in the obvious place - REMOUNTING. I don’t
seem to totally suck, but I feel quite slow! We first saw a demonstraion
and then rode around in the grass getting off and on our bikes. Then, we
reassembled and were instructed to do lots of fast repititions - one pedal
stroke, get off, two steps, get on, one pedal stroke, get off, two steps,
get on… This was great becuase it got me a little faster.
Then, the training race. I started at the back since I really don’t know
what the heck I’m doing. At one point, there was a turn into a grassy
downhill to an uphill with a barrier… I mucked that about 50% of my
attempts… The other two barriers were mostly good, with two near-crashes.
The experienced people were just flying, and I was able to see what lines
to take etc… That was good. I got hit on my right side by a guy passing
me - it’s easier to deal with in cx, somehow. My hand is bruised, but I’m
otherwise totally fine. I actually took myself off the course twice when I
saw the front guys coming at me from behind - I didn’t want to be a hazard!
Overall, I was neither slow nor fast but having a terrific time. I never
pushed my pace into that redline zone as I stay focused on bike handling and
the whole dis/remounting business. Oh yeah, there was also that 445 miles
in the previous week thing….
Total THUMBS UP on the CX clinic!
Thanks for reading,
Lee