I took the long way home yesterday. I managed to leave work by quarter to five, unusually early for this phase of the project. It was a clear and unseasonably warm day, just begging for a bike ride. A winter weight long sleeve jersey and tights were required for the morning commute, but on the way uphill into MacDonald forest the afternoon sun was so warm I overheated in shorts and a jersey. I climbed Upper Dan’s trail to the top of Dimple hill and was on top of the world exactly one hour after leaving work. The Willamette valley was spread out below me in the late afternoon sun and snow covered Mt Jefferson was visible 70 miles away.

I started back down the trail and then the gravel spur connecting to 600 road. The road was a golden tunnel, with the sun low on the horizon to my left filtering through the alder leaves like a horizontal spotlight. It was a long straight downhill, and my shadow was projected on the hillside to my right, keeping up as I accelerated down the hill. After a minute the sun was below the horizon and I was back in a darkening green tunnel. A long cold gravel downhill lead out to the pavement and civilization. There was a clear view of the sky on Oak Creek road, with an almost full moon in a cloudless blue sky. The twilight was plenty bright to ride in, especially when I took the bike path around Bald Hill and was completely out of the trees. There was another beautiful view across the hay field towards the Benton County fair. The field was a smooth vibrant green six inch deep green shag carpet under a dark blue sky. I rolled into my driveway just as it was getting dark.

Fall mountain biking haiku:
Sunny afternoon
Tacky trail with muddy spots
They will be ice soon

Another beautiful weekend for bicycling, it could be the last nice day before winter. That excuse for a bike ride was used Saturday, Sunday and could have been used tonight on the ride home. This is the time of year when the nice days are precious and every one should be spent on a bicycle.

Saturday was an easy day; cloudy and cool in the morning. I went for a ride with the Mid Valley Bicycle Club and let the fast guys disappear in the distance while I spun along and chatted with my friend. He was taking it easy to peak for a duathlon, and I was taking it easy with Sunday’s race in mind. Funny how racing can blunt the competitive urges during training rides.

Sunday was another pre-dawn departure for a Cross Crusade Cyclocross race. The venue at Horning’s Hideout was above the valley fog, so it was already sunny for my 9:00 start. Parts of the course were difficult for me, particularly the long straight downhills across bumpy grass fields. The runups and climbs were more fun. The best part of all was the lead in and the barriers in front of the finish line. I got to pre-ride it a couple of times, and did it five times in the race. Each time was faster than the last, and every time I just had to grin.

Cyclocross haiku:
Fast rolling lead in
Up a steep man-high grass ramp;
Dismount, leap, leap, mount

Pretty and strong

1078 Cyclocross Racers at Alpenrose

Today was the first race of the ’07 Cross Crusade series. 1077 other racers plus quite a few spectators joined me at the Alpenrose Dairy and Velodrome in Hillsboro, Oregon for Cyclocross racing. Because of the Oregon weather (rainy and muddy, but not often icy or snowy) and the bicycle culture, this is one of the best places in the country for Cyclocross. There were six races, starting at 9:00 am. The Masters 50+ field was started first in the first race with the Beginner field started a couple minutes behind.

I left home in the dark at 6:15. Any day when you roll out of bed before dawn and then put on bike clothes is a good day. At the race site I greeted old friends and showed off my new Co-motion cross bike to the people in the Chris King tent. Chris King makes excellent headsets and hubs (many people say they’re simply the best). I equipped my white cross bike with pink Chris King components because they really are “pretty and strong”, and a cut of the profits go to breast cancer research.

I had a chance for a couple of warm up laps and then lined up at the start line with the other old farts. The start was on a wide paved road, uphill, leading to a couple of curves and then necking down to a gravel trail one bike wide. I lined up a little late, so I was near the back of the pack. Not the best place to be, because a cross race starts with a sprint from the start line, to establish a position at the front when the road narrows down to one rider wide: “the hole shot”. I’m not so interested in fighting for the hole shot because of the crashes that occasionally go with it. Cyclocross racing is definitely a race, but since it spreads out on the single track, it has an entirely different flavor from road racing. It quickly ends up being a race between you and the racer immediately ahead and the one immediately behind. The fields spread out and mingle, so after a few laps I have no idea whether I’m racing for first place or last place. I just know if I catch and pass the guy ahead, I’ve moved up one position. The race is for 40 minutes plus one lap by the leader, so you don’t even know for sure when the finish will be. During the race you’re entirely concentrated in the moment, focused on riding fast and smooth, and catching and passing the guy ahead. It has rained during the past couple of weeks, but was dry in the morning so the course was fast, sticky but not too rough. I felt good and had a good race, passing some masters and lapping a few beginners. The results will be posted in a few days, but it was a good day no matter where I placed.