Cyclocross weekend, part 1

Garner, NC; 10/18/2008; NC Cyclocross Series Race 1. Linus and I headed south from Raleigh to the BMX track for some racing. Unfortunately, rain the previous day caused them to eliminate the section of the course that would have sent us through the banks (and jumps?) of the BMX track, but it did give us a little mud to contend with. Besides a little mud and soft, slow grass, the course was fairly open and flat.

Linus jumped out to the front group of a huge field and settled into his first ever cyclocross race quite nicely. Please observe the totally focused look on his face. Also, the way he's hammering away on his new R. Kelly frame.
Linus finished an outstanding 13th, but most impressive is his post-race composure: 

Observe Mr. O-G's jaunty expression as competitors to the left and right of him buckle-over in agony. 

Jonah was kind enough to join us and take these pictures. He just defended his dissertation so wasn't racing, but he's been a fixture of the NC scene for several years now. In addition to his physics/engineering work, he has a keen eye for an edgy art photo.

Note the skewed perspective, bisecting lines, and the deft composition which captured Linus in the background. I was pleased with my early-season form and also finished 13th. One of the Inland Racing guys caught me in the last lap, pushing me out of the money, but I was just happy not to get totally smoked. Racing mountain bikes for the past several weeks has been fun and given me some endurance, but I was skeptical of my ability to do a short, high-intensity effort. Fortunately, singlespeed mountainbiking forces me to either grind away on long climbs or spin furiously on open flat areas, which might be a pretty good way to prep for a cx race. I was also encouraged by a late-race holler of encouragement from Linus, "Do it for Biscuitville!", which not only got me pumped up, but also made the announcer give a B'ville shout-out over the PA system. (It should also be noted that at this point of the race, a theoretical biscuit made me happy, but if someone actually tried to hand me an actual biscuit, I probably would have barfed.) 

So we hit up some post-race Bojangles (Biscuitville was closed, although Linus claims that Bojangles' biscuits are better) in an attempt to recover for the sunday races. Stay tuned for the Sunday report...