Race Report: CycloX Sienna Lake – When in doubt, drink beer

Out of the ditch at CycloX Sienna Lake (Photo: John Flora Photography)

At least I can say I have a plan for the last four races of the 2014 cyclocross season: High fives and drink beer.

CycloX Sienna Lake had a pretty awesome course. The main feature is two drops down into a drainage ditch… very easy for anyone that spends some time on a mountain bike, daunting for anyone who, well… doesn’t. The hardest part for me was reminding myself of the lack of suspension and brakes that work/can be finessed, otherwise I love the crap out of course features like this! Otherwise… well, it was a typical cross race for me… say goodbye to the rest of the Cat 3 women halfway through the first lap, and work my way back to socialize with the Cat 4 women in the 20-30th places.

There was a guy halfway through each lap that was demanding high fives, which was awesome. Even awesomer (ha!) was the line of about 10 or so children on a straight back stretch before the first ditch drop that were lined up to get high fives. Seriously, beyond cool! I saw the couple of ladies ahead of me skip them, so damn if I didn’t slow down and go to the edge to give each one of them high five! It made me smile to see their enthusiasm and happiness. Screw the fact I was on the way to another almost-embarrassing last place finish – I made children and myself smile!

Last lap High Five Guy was yelling out about beer, so all through that lap I couldn’t wait to get to him to claim beer. Out of breathe I muttered I was 31 and grabbed the can of Pabst Blue Ribbon that had a couple of sips left and eagerly chugged it down to quench my thirst. I got props for “double sipping” before tossing the can to drop into the second ditch drop. Damn, I’m such a cyclocrosser now 😀

Adult beverage time! (Photo: Shawn Currey/Green Curry Photography)

I actually didn’t end up in last place, Jenny had a mechanical (or so I think, she was carrying her bike) and there were a few DNF’s so I was 24th out of 27 or so. Not good enough for BRAC Cross Cup points, but meh. I got high fives and beer. At this point, that’s about as winning as I’ll get! Four races are left for me this season, so it’s all about shenanigans at this point!