Today, for the first time ever, I did a cyclocross race in Pennsylvania. I lined up for the Masters 40+ Cat 4/5 race at Carpenter Cross in Horsham, just 7 miles from my mother’s house in the suburbs north of Philadelphia. The temperature was about 80° and the course was dusty from a recent absence of rain in this part of the world. I really liked the course. It didn’t have a run-up, but it had a challenging mix of barriers, climbs, descents, off-camber sections, and sand. I was able to ride the sand pit when some of my rivals were forced to run, and that was good for a couple of positions. We did a short prologue lap to start the race, then three full laps. I had a disappointing start but then settled in. My final lap was my fastest full lap, and that ain’t bad. The race combined the Masters, Juniors, and singlespeed fields, but scored them separately. I had a little fun with an under-19 racer who, technically, wasn’t my competition: I cut him off at the last tight corner and then outsprinted him to the line. He will learn not to leave the door open! As for the guys who were my competition in Masters 40+ Cat 4/5, I placed 13th out of 19, 4:57 behind the winner. That translated to about half a lap on this long course. So, I wasn’t close to the front of the race. That’s OK. I got a good workout, sharpened my bike handling skills a bit, and showed my mother and my oldest kid what I do for fun.
That's cool something different and short drive to race.
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