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