A Little Cross at Cross?

I was looking forward to Tallycross.  The weather was going to be cold and windy, The Kid was coming home from school, and I was going to get to race my bike.  All happy things in my world.

Halloween

But first I had to survive Halloween on Friday night.  We've been putting on a show at our house for at least 10 years and the locals look forward to it.  They start lining up before sundown with the little ones.  We are pretty G rated until it gets dark then we let the zombies out.  One of the older kids told me "man I want to come work for ya'll next year".  Fun times.

I think I'll start dyeing my hair

Saturday CX

The race venue is in a great spot, easy access, lots of parking (which turned out not to be a problem) and really good terrain to work with.  Unfortunately very few riders and almost no spectators were there to enjoy it.  Why? I don't know the answer to that.  Very little shop participation, no vendors, and no food truck.  All were there last year, so what happened?  We even had a keg of beer last year, sadly, none this year.

From a racers perspective the event was well run, and the course well marked.  I have a few niggling complaints about not cleaning the corners of sticks and limbs but that's just me.  A small group of us lined up for the 35, 45, 55 class, with only me and one more in the 55s.  I had fun riding, just not much racing went on.  The faster riders were way ahead and the slower were way behind.  For my $25 I got a $.25 medal.  The Kid had a good race though, finishing 2nd in cat 3, we waited in the cold for podiums but got tired and headed home before they were held.

Tragedy Strikes

I won't go into detail about it.  I don't usually post sad things here but it happened and it had a bearing on my weekend.  Our beautiful, loving cat of 8 years, Frodo, was killed Saturday evening.  It left our family in shock and sadness.  He was a great cat and will be missed.  This event seemed to send me on a downward spiral that I still haven't fully pulled out of, and that's not really like me.

Sunday CX

Nobody ever takes pictures of me.

The racing was much the same as Saturday, at least from my perspective.  I lost interest about three quarters of the way through.  Riding by myself, it was just like a training ride, only it cost me another $25.  Today however, I had brought beer, so we found a sunny corner, cranked the boom box up, and had a small party.

The Kid had a good race though and managed to finish 3rd.  He enjoys CX and was happy with his ride.

Opinion Time

This event won't last.  No payout for the elites, no goodies for the rest of us, no local involvement, and a long way to travel for the majority of riders, will spell the end of our little race.  At least on the FLCX calendar.  I know the riders are out there, just last week we had 50+ show up for a trail ride.  I know, I know, that was low pressure and no cost, plus they had beer.  Tallahassee is just that way, lots of riders, not many racers.  That's not a bad thing, but it doesn't bode well for promoters trying to put on races.

This was the scene last year, nothing like that this year.

Cross is hard, plus you're out there where everybody can see you.  No place to hide, no drafting, so I get it, it's not for everyone.  I was just hoping a few more would give it a try.  Somethings going to need to change if we're going to do this again next year. 

This year, fun but lonely.  

But that's just my opinion.  And you know what they say about those.