A Hard Day at Bubblecross
My goodness. What a beautiful day for a cyclocross race. Sure, it was hot. But this venue demands a warm day. I missed last year’s frigid edition, and made a last-second decision to join the team for a day at the beach as part of the 2019 edition of Bubblecross.
I spent Saturday evening packing my things into an impressively small package, and Sunday morning eating the right food in the right order while watching old Svenness episodes. Can we all agree that those things were the best? I learned so much from those videos, and still do.
Cullen and I listened to his Leftist podcasts on the way to Bubbling Springs until it was time to review the race predictor and see who was who. We’d wanted to get there early enough to preride and properly warm up, but...we didn’t. Two laps around the course was all the warmup I got before having a customary (for 2019) lucky sip of beer before heading to the start. Which was far from the main area. We failed in helping Tom, our newest CX convert, find the start area, but if I’m honest...I almost missed the race myself and started at the back of the small field.
Learning: go earlier. Help your friends.
By the finish of the prologue I was sitting in third place on Cullen’s wheel, coming around him on the run-up. Behind me on the rocky descent (the rockiest? It’s pretty dang rocky) into the beach, Cullen lost connection with his handlebars and found a tree instead, ending his race but hopefully not his season. I managed to play it cool for most of the remainder of the race, and if I’d put in a few digs in a few places (mostly to get around the tail end of the 50+ 1/2/3/4 field that went off a minute before us), I think I’d have been in a better spot to contest the podium.
Travis raced the elite field and flatted one of his freshly glued new tubs. He didn’t mention this on Slack, but it appears that he ran the course until he got pulled, because he has character and integrity.
Anyway.
It was an early highlight of the season for me, and if it’s warm again on Bubblecross weekend next year, I suggest you attend. Bring a cooler, bring some friends and chairs, and make a day of it.
I mostly like cycling because I like stuff, and I like tinkering. The title for all of my posts here should be, “I made a bunch of mistakes so you don’t have to: [Topic] Edition.”
I’d love to review your product. Say hi: clay@tobedetermined.cc.
Cyclocross season kicks-off for the squad with a special double header: running the NYC 5th Avenue Mile followed by racing Bubblecross in West Milford, New Jersey.