“…almost race pace.”
The words floated in my mind, as I headed up the mild hills toward the park. Enter the park and navigating my way around traffic and the slickness the fog has brought with it. It’s still early so it’s rush hour traffic and the fog hasn’t subsided yet. I’m already spotted with dirt and I’ve only ridden on the street and paths thus far.
I’m trying to find the course.
It’s not a race day. It’s a training morning and CX is on deck. What better way to get an almost race pace CX workout than to find the scene of last evening’s edition of Team DFL’s CX races, an underground institution of 15 years, and actually do a few race pace laps?
I see tracks.
The scene slowly revealed itself to me and there it was, amongst the trees, nestled away. I scouted first, to find remnants of how the course was laid out. Painted arrows, directions, treadmarks and flattened grass. Single, double, triple track. Gotcha. Try to figure out how a course would be laid out here so I ride around a bit looking for more signs and eventually sort it out. Not too big, tight and fast. Compact would be the best way to describe it.
Clip in and I’m off. I build up the spin and follow the signs. Fast, loose. The trail lets you be loose, requires you to be. Otherwise, you’re going to slide and wipe out if you’re too rigid, too uptight. Let the limbs be loose and let it flow.
The only things that stop me twice are a long-ish section of what’s essentially a sandpit. The dirt on this misty, moist morning resembles fine chocolate powder. I want to eat it but I remember that it’s dirt. Like hot chocolate… wipeout. Can’t keep the rubber down. The wheel turns left, right, sharp right, sharp left and nowhere else to go because there’s no more traction and that means down.
Ah, pillowy chocolate dirt-sand.
Remount and onto the other section, through some trees, dismount to run some choco-dirt bits and remount. Now comes a section, a sharp embankment down. How to take it? I decide to clip out one foot to pivot me down and around the tree. Going well, going well, going down. Back up and at it.
A few more laps and I’m done. I decide to explore the park some more to find the singletrack and trails I hear about. I find some, ride it out to the beach. It’s warm out there. Maybe because I’m warmed up well. I watch a Chinese man watch a helicopter being unloaded onto the ground. I watch as a film crew sets up for the day. I’ve got the day ahead as well.
