Metro as Cyclocross

I commute into North East DC every day by Bus and Metro. It takes about 90 minutes from door to door so I have a lot of time to think. Yesterday I came up with why riding the Metro is like racing cyclocross:


Pre-riding the course: Checking your smartphone before you leave the house to guage how the commute is going to be today. Examples can be: good/bad/might as well work from home. One note, regardless of the "course conditions", something will come up and delay your arrival/finish. See Mechanical. 


Barriers: Metro turnstiles. Technique here is crucial otherwise you can cause a major backup. Though "hopping" these barriers is frowned upon and may temporarily limit your ability to upgrade out of Cat 4. 


Hole shot: Getting into or out of any Metro car doors at any time. Extra points for getting a seat. At rush hour. 


Run Up: Escalators. If you ride Metro enough, you'll be walking these. Especially Dupont Circle and Rosalyn. Used for both in and off season training if you run them. Also called "Stairs". 


Race officials: Metro train operators. You can't hear them when the pull into the station, because you're concentrating on your technique to get the hole shot. Just like the starting line in the Masters 35/45 class. Cause you know you'll do well here.  


Cat 4s: Tourists and first time Metro riders. They fall at every start, stop and off camber, and they can't figure out the barriers, therefore ruining your chance at a hole shot. 


Entry fees: SmartTrip card. Lose this and you might as well turn around and go home. 


Fly over: Going from one platform to another across trains. Ex: Metro Center. 


Mud: The detritus left either in the train car or on the station platform. Extra points for your shoes to stick to the floor.   


Pit change: Transferring from Metro to Bus. 


Mechanical: You can get one of these several different ways. The weather can play a crucial role, and if you've picked the wrong setup, your day is done before it even starts. Common mechanicals: AC failure in your train car, in August, at rush hour, and the person standing next to you decides that today is the day to not shower. Awesome. 


Singlespeed: Able to ride an entire Metro line end to end for your daily commute. Ex: Vienna to New Carrolton. Why anyone would subject themselves to singlespeed is beyond me. 


Post race cool down: Getting home and being totally useless the rest of the night. Also unable to relax until you've had several recovery drinks. Preferably with alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol. The "Not tonight honey I've got a headache" excuse works very well here. 

First CX ride

After the usual Saturday morning Bike Lane ride, I decided to perform “The Swap” and make my bike CX ready and to take it out for a spin in a local field. 

Once the Sunday chores were done, Daughter of Dad was napping and Wife of Dad was going through old clothes to donate I took Son of Dad with me to one of the neighborhood pools that has an adjacent open field and playground. The plan was to have Son of Dad play on the playground, while Dad shook out the cobwebs and rode the field’s perimeter trying to remember riding CX. 

The verdict: I’m very glad I did it. 

As expected for late August in Virginia it was hot an very humid, so it didn’t take long to be drenched in sweat. With the help of Son of Dad, we found a rather long branch that I used as a makeshift CX barrier and used it to practice my dismounts, lifting the bike over the barrier, and remounting the bike. Once complete, I would then ride in a big oval (with a short off camber section) and do it again. Rinse, lather, repeat. Each “lap” as it were took about 30 seconds to complete. 

It was on my second lap that I remembered just how taxing riding your bike on grass versus riding on the road can be. It brought back memories of my two CX races last year, and I had brief moments of panic as my heart rate and breathing shot through the roof. However after the first 5 minutes of riding I settled into a groove and concentrated on getting over the barrier, and keeping steady on my bike. Son of Dad even tried doing a lap with me, but didn’t get too far because the grass was “too deep”.
I had a bit of odd luck when the back side of the “course”, I hit a bump just right and my ass hit the seat hard. The seat post collar gave way and my seat post sank into the frame. I’d never done something like that before so I was a bit surprised when I stopped to assess the damage. Right away I though I had broken either the seat or seat post and had visions of my CX season being finished before it even started. 

Fortunately only the collar had slid off the seat tube and some quick work with an allen wrench put things back in order. (Last night I inspected both the collar and seat tube and found no visible cracks, however I’m now a bit nervous for the next time and will have to keep an eye on it.)  

I rode in circles for another 40 minutes and called it quits when I saw Son of Dad sitting on the playground visibly bored. It was time to go home, take a shower and sit in the AC for the rest of the day. 

All in all, it was good first ride and as I said, I’m glad I did the ride. I’m going to try and do this each week so that when my first race comes my body will be ready for the rigors of CX. 

My first race is only 4 weeks away.

Where have I been

“Out of my brain on the 5:15...”

For the last three months, I’ve been trying to get my body into some semblance of shape for the upcoming CX season. I’ve tried to do a mix of off the bike exercises using the Cyclo-Core exercises, rides on the trainer, and the weekly Bike Lane group rides.

Since I last wrote, I think my fitness has improved to the point where I’m in better shape than I was last year. Now that the first race is 4 weeks away, I need to now work on short hard effort intervals, running sprints, and CX exercises like lifting the bike, mounting the bike, hopping a barrier, etc.

For the last group of training, I’ll be putting my CX tires on the bike this weekend and riding to a local open field to shake out the cobwebs and practice my moves.

I have to say training thus far has been tedious at times. Getting up at 5 am and hitting the trainer or going for a run in the dark is not ideal. As my wife can attest, I’m definitely a morning person, but there are days when I’d rather roll over and continue drooling into my pillow.

That said, I’m definitely seeing the payoffs. In the most recent Bike Lane shop ride I felt pretty strong and led the pack through a few sections. I tried to keep the pace as high as I could without blowing up, though I never looked at my computer to see how fast we were going. Since I started these rides in 2009 my average speed has increased from 14-15 mph to 16-17 mph. Not great for sure, but I feel very happy with that increase. I just need to translate that to the CX course.

Since I committed to riding the races this year, I was hoping to get a real CX bike to replace the one I currently use. However, in March we purchased a new car which jacked up our Virginia property tax bill to a fairly uncomfortable amount for our finances, so a new bike went out the window this year.  So I’ll doing the same thing I did last year: the night before each race I replace my road tires with my Maxxis Locust Cx tires, swap out the Speedplay pedals for a Performance brand Shimano SPD knock-offs and putting my feet into my old pair of Specialized MTB shoes that I’ve had since 2000. What ever you want to call it, retro, old school, or just plain cheap, it’ll have to work another year.

In 2009 I competed in two local cyclocross races and got hooked. To prepare, my training consisted of reading as much as I could online, and watching the international race season via live streams from Belgian television. And hoping for the best.

My first race was at Il Tacchino in November where I raced in the Category 4 class (the lowest class available). I had done some half hearted training leading up to the race, but made it through mostly on my fitness from the weekly local bike shop rides (which I learned pretty rapidly wasn't a whole lot). I finished in the bottom half of the group.

My second race was at the Reston National Capitol Cross where I again raced Category 4. After Il Tacchino, I again did some half hearted training leading up to the race. Though my finishing place improved greatly from Il Tacchino (no longer bottom half), I knew I still wasn't in the best of shape. It was very apparent to me during the practice lap that I was in trouble. I mostly gutted it out and had a respectable finish, but I hurt badly.

Prior to the races I had made friends with the shop manager of the local bike shop I ride with on the weekends, and over the winter he asked to join the shop team after seeing my cross performance. After attending the first team meeting in the late winter and meeting the other road, MTB and cross racers, I decided I wanted to race more this season.

This blog will document my progress with preparing myself for the upcoming season.

The first race is September 26. 131 days away from today.