Sunday, November 23, 2014

Cycloross #6: South Germantown Race with the ladies of Sticky Fingers


Cyclocross race #6 was held in a really great park in Germantown, Maryland.

The ladies of the female cycling team Sticky Fingers were helping to promote this race, and I knew that this would be an extremely fun race, because the ladies of Sticky Fingers are fun!

The ladies of Sticky Fingers

I must take a moment to talk about the ladies of Sticky Fingers! They have been completely awesome on my cycling, racing journey. They are always encouraging and are one of the main reasons why I started CX racing; they assured me that I would have fun, and they sure were right. I absolutely love these ladies who are part of my village.

My race started at 1pm, but I got to the race early to assist the Sticky Fingers lady in any way that I could. They were good on volunteers, so I pre-rode the course several times and socialized a lot. It became quite clear that yea, CX is about racing, but it is also about the wonderful people who make up the CX world.

Now, that I have raced six whole races and have gone to quite a few CX practices, I know quite a few people in the CX world.

I talked with Josh and his mom after Josh's race where he placed 1st. I see Josh, his mom, and grandmother at every race, and not only do they cheer for Josh, but they also cheer for me. I feel like I have known them for years, and I am delighted to see them at the races.




I met this couple last week, because we were both using our navigational systems to get to the race site, and we both ended up lost. Now, cyclist are some of the nicest people in the whole wide world, and of course we rolled our windows down and tried to figure out where was the race site. Eventually, we ended up at the right place. They are both CX racers, and the wife placed second or third in her racing category on yesterday. Now, they are my new CX buddies

New racing friends!

Ashlea and her husband are both CX racers, and they have a four month old baby. I love seeing Ashley and her husband at the races changing diapers, feeding the baby, soothing the baby etc. At their respective race times, they race. Ashlea races in my category, and we always finish near each other. I have finished before her a few times, and she has finished before me a few times. Now, we have friendly competition where we are desperately trying to beat each other. I just love racing with Ashlea.

Ashley and the baby!

There is another lady that I see at all of the races, and yesterday she gave me some racing pointers. After talking for awhile, I found out that she is 56 years old, yes 56 years old, and has been racing for over 15 years. You talking about someone getting excited. I was thrilled to know that she is racing at 56 years old, because I am planning to do the exact same thing at her age.

56 year old racer who is awesome!

Now, can you see one more reason why I am in love with CX?

However, yesterday's race was not one of my better races. When I pre-rode the course, I thought "This course is not bad at all." I actually thought that it would be quite easy. However, most of the course was uphill, and I became extremely tired, but I kept on pushing. Also, I have not been practicing dismounting and remounting, and I absolutely sucked. I was very conscious of how I looked on the course; I was hoping that I did not look like I was not trying hard enough, I was wondering what the spectators were thinking about me, and I was also thinking that I was not going to do anymore racing, because I suck... My mind was working overtime. After my race, I was like a needy kid running up to everyone asking "How did I do, and how did I look?"

When I got in the car, I thought about how ridiculous it was to look to others for validation about my racing. I need to continue to train, and be patient. Rome was not built overnight, and I will not be #1 overnight. My people, I have a lot of work to do, and it mostly starts with renewing my mind.... I am IN the race, I am having a lot of fun, and I am meeting people whom I really like!

This morning, I went out to a CX track, and I rode it hard. I practiced dismounting, remounting, and cornering. Tomorrow, I will do the same thing. "A Dream Come Through Much Activity."

Happy after CX practice today!

I'm telling myself to "Please be patient with me, God is not through with me yet."

Happy Sunday!

Until the next race......





2 comments:

MB said...

You're awesome, Jackie. And yes, you're getting there. Now work on those dismounts/remounts :)

Jacqueline said...

Mark, you should have seen me over at Gravelly point yesterday...dismounting and remounting and riding around trees.

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