It's Cyclocross Season!

 

First off: The struggle is real. No matter how great the racing season is going, there is always going to be THIS.

Second: It's cyclocross season! Yeah! I love watching it, kinda like racing it, but absolutely embrace the feel of the wonderful fall weather and atmosphere that surrounds it.

I'm not that good at this sport, that's why I ride a mountain bike (also known as 'The Blue Sheet Bike') and ride in the masters class.  But anyway, Sylvan Springs is a favorite of mine, with much climbing and tricky, acorn-strewn turns.  Big Shark always puts on great races here. I had a nice battle with another Tim, who puts me to shame in the straights and never seems to make any mistakes. 

45 minutes of suffering later, I pulled out a win. Lucky for me the climbing was intense (a bit over 100ft per mile). I was gunning for the "younger" 40+ masters, but didn't catch them all. I didn't really care, because the race was so fun.  But I also had another very big reason to finish quickly....

Starting just moments after I finished was this dude. He's had a great NICA mountain bike season so far and has one more race to go this coming weekend. Despite a full schedule, he was very gung-ho to do this race. Obviously he shops at the same places I do, and he was in full South Side kit and piloting his very own Sheet Bike ('The Green Sheet Bike'). I have known for a while that his gains over last season are astonishing, but I wasn't really expecting this sort of performance.  He started fast (he is my offspring, don't forget) and just kept going full gas.

He went on to develop quite a lead, despite losing his chain and having to get off and thread it back on. He looked very comfortable out there, proving once again that his bike handling is super solid and that his fitness has improved so much in 2022.

Here Eli is trying to explain to me that no, there was, in fact, NO MOTOR hidden in the Green Sheet Bike. His performance was do to good old-fashioned hard work and a love of riding bikes.

Thanks again to Flannery Allison for providing wonderful pics of Eli, and to the Beautiful Mrs. K for wrangling the Hound Dog while cheering for us all over the course.