Waterloo: Knowing My Fate Is To Be With You

Be the only one in the picture: 10-time national champion Katie Compton

As the 2014 cyclocross season began there was some reason to think that I would compete in the Trek CXC Cup, held this weekend at the Trek corporate headquarters in Waterloo. If the event had been part of the WCA series, then I surely would have raced on Saturday and Sunday, despite the hefty entry fee of $37 per race. And I might have done reasonably well. My category did not attract as large a field as I predicted, and a couple of the guys who grabbed upgrade points by finishing in the Top 5 are guys with whom I have had good head-to-head success.

But I was happy just to spectate in Waterloo on Saturday afternoon, arriving moments before the start of the women’s pro race. Katie Compton was the runaway winner. Then came the men’s pro race, won convincingly by Jeremy Powers. Compton and Powers won again today.

After the men’s race I took a slow drive through Fireman’s Park, which will be the site of the WCA race in Waterloo on November 2. I haven’t raced there before and I don’t know exactly where the course will go, but the park looks like a nice enough venue. It has some elevation change, lots of different surfaces over which the course could run, and plenty of buildings and trees. If I had to guess, the course will be tight and twisty. I would fare better on a course with long straightaways and long climbs, but I will look forward to the Waterloo race anyway.

Training this weekend consisted of a 28-mile road ride on Saturday before my trip to Waterloo and a 41-mile road ride this afternoon. I had a solid week: 10 hours in the saddle and a total of 169 miles. The challenge in the week to come will be to curb my enthusiasm. The weather forecast is so ridiculously favorable that I will be tempted to ride much more than I should in advance of next Saturday’s cyclocross race in East Troy. That course should suit me well.