(By: Ethan Maier, The Yakima Herald) :: It was cold, miserable, and I hated it.
But I was going to finish the race.
This was nationals. I had traveled more than 2,500 miles across more than 10 states to the biggest race of the year, the race where you gave it all you had, the time when nothing else mattered — and I was bombing it. I was pretty much in last place, my bike was definitely not working, and I felt horrible.
But I was going to finish the race.
I was in Rhode Island, a cold and old state. To make the race even worse, it had snowed nonstop overnight. Now, we were faced with a foot of snow.
This was cyclocross, an off-shoot of road racing that isn't anything like road racing. It surprises me that it's still such a obscure sport even though it's been around longer than mountain biking, BMX, dirt jumping and downhill.
Cyclocross is an obstacle course on a bike. A typical course consists of some sections of sand or mud and at least one run-up that is too steep to ride. The quickest way to get up these is to dismount, pick up your bike and let it rest upon your shoulder.
Another unique aspect of cyclocross are barriers. Almost all cyclocross races have them. They are wooden barriers usually 1 to 11/2 feet tall and are either set up as singles, doubles or triples. Rarely do you find four barriers in a row.
The technique that you use to get over barriers is dismounting very close to the barrier itself, then picking up your bike by the top part of the frame, carrying it over, then just jumping back on your bike. With practice, you can do this so smoothly that you might only lose a few seconds compared to normal riding.
Sometimes, barriers are incorporated with run-ups. You might find barriers at the bottom of a run-up to stop you from riding part way or all the way up the hill. You might also find barriers part of the way up the run-up as in this year's cyclocross nationals.
Usually, the rest of the course consists of dirt and grass, with some pavement mixed in. But, as I saw at this year's nationals, this can quickly change. Snow, mud, slush and pain were all I found there.
One thing about cyclocross that I don't hate but definitely don't love is that, despite poor conditions, race officials will rarely cancel a race. In fact, they seem to welcome rotten weather.
One of the top people of my cycling team, Jim Brown, who grew up in Yakima, raced in the worst conditions I've ever seen. It was so bad, he was pretty much racing in a blizzard that was slowly melting (snow, to hail, to freezing rain). Many people became hypothermic, dropped out or both. A group of Radracers, including me, was huddled under a canopy and every time Jim went by, we would all go into a cheering frenzy.
Race officials soon announced that they had canceled the rest of the races for the day. That is the only time I've ever seen this happen and could be one of the first times a national race has been canceled.
Radracing NW, the cycling team I belong to, was founded in 1998 by Dale Knapp and Pat Bentson to help bring young people into cycling. Soon, it became a premier team and can take credit for its racers winning countless local races and numerous national races in many categories and cycling disciplines. The team has six riders who live in the Yakima area, including three teens — Bryan Klingele, Paul Sales and myself — all 14 years old.
I've been racing since I joined Radracing NW in 2003. I was in seventh grade and definitely didn't have much experience in cycling. It was mostly a new sport to me. All I had done before this was dabble in different sports. A bit of skateboarding here, a bit of BMX there, and I even tried playing soccer. None of these sports appealed to me. On a skateboard I didn't feel comfortable and BMX bikes were too small. Soccer didn't last for me because, in a team sport, you really aren't battling with yourself, you're playing with other people against another group of people. This did not appeal to me.
I learned about cyclocross from Joe Sales, a definite aficionado of cycling and coach of the Yakima branch of the Seattle-based Radracing NW. He hooked me up with Radracing and it just grew on me. I love cycling because when you ride you slip into a peaceful state of determination, if you can picture that. It is a great way of dealing with stress and it's fun. In cycling, there is a very steep learning curve and, as you get better, you start to enjoy and appreciate this sport more and more.
People have been riding cyclocross in Europe since around 1915 and U.S. cyclocross nationals have been held since the early 1960s. Cyclocross was first introduced in Europe as a way for people to keep fit while the temperature outside was cold. That is why today the cyclocross season is in the fall.
Back then, the only type of biking was road biking. But it didn't take enough energy to keep yourself warm in the cold. Also, the tires and icy roads didn't match. Because of the grippy tread of a cyclocross bike, more people became interested, and cyclocross changed from a training technique to a sport.
Around the late 1950s, cyclists in the United States discovered cyclocross. By then, people all over Europe had been enjoying this sport for many years and many countries were already holding cyclocross nationals. Cyclists in the United States found out how fun it was and, in 1963, Tyger Johnson of Illinois became the first national champion.
At the first cyclocross nationals, there was only one category, and fewer than 30 people raced. Forty-two years later, at the 2005 nationals, more than 1,200 people raced in 25 different categories.
Today, cyclocross is gaining a lot of attention in the cycling world and is growing rapidly. But I think it still retains that friendly, personal, out-for-the-weekend feel that racers felt in the 1960s.
Back at the 2005 nationals though, it was starting to feel less out-for-the-weekend and more like torture. Each of my three laps around the course increased exponentially in their toughness. The first lap, my bike chain fell off repeatedly. This continued through the second and third lap, then culminated with my cycling shoe breaking at the start of the third lap.
But I was going to finish the race.
Through 9.6 km, about 35 minutes and 16th place, I crossed the finish line with, to put it nicely, extreme infuriation.
But I soon recovered from my frustration and enjoyed the rest of the day with other Radracers. That night we all got together to share our successes — and failures — and eat tasty food at a fancy Italian restaurant in downtown Providence.
Read more!
