Woodland Park GP Cyclocross

Queens Cross was suppose to be the end of my inaugural cyclocross season. But when a friend offered to split travel costs for a ride to Seattle for one last race, how could I resist?


We arrived at our hotel in Seattle late Saturday night. And after a restless sleep and some coffee, we made our way to the race at Woodland Park.

We arrived early to setup a tent for others from Vancouver who would be joining us later in the day. After registration, we headed to the course for a practice lap. My race was not first this time around, and although I could have done a practice lap closer to my start time, I did not want to be rushed.

I could tell from the practice lap that this was going to be my new favorite cx course. After a 13 minute practice lap, I figured 2-3 laps would be a good goal. This race was a 40 minute race, not the 30 that I was accustom to.

Since none of us were in the first race, we watched he firsdt race to scope out some of the more tricky parts. This was helpful on many of the fast turns. Soon it was time for me to head to the staging area.

This was a different race series and therefore the categories were different. Normally, I would ride Novice, or Category 4 for this race, but they had a Clydesdale category. This was specifically for racer over 200lbs. My race was at 10:30am and consisted of the Master Men 45+, Clydesdale Class, Master Men 60+, and Beginning Men. And we were let out in staggered waves in that order.

The Master Men 45+ was off and the Clydesdales were lining up. Rather than the usual countdown, this race did the heartbeat start. They essentially play a loud heartbeat sound as the countdown. Needless to say, it did nothing for those of us line up with pre-race anxiety.

Then the race was on.

The start of the course was a slight uphill, but even so I was in too easy of a gear. This was fine though as I wanted to be in the back at the start. I got into a harder gear, rode past the timing trailer, gave a wave, and was on my way.

Photo courtesy of Woodinville Bicycle 

The pack bunched up as we approached the first right hand turn. I was far enough in the back not to get caught up in it. I took the entry wide, then cut in. The course then straightened out over a gradual incline. I stayed to the outside on the grass to keep grip.

As the course descended there was a right turn, followed by a left turn. I knew from watching the first race that the outside line was fastest.

After the turns was a flatter, gravel section. Then there was a small climb, before a left turn into another climb. The climb was slow, but I rode the whole thing. This course had some challenging hills, but they were all rideable for me. I was very happy about that.

After the hill was a bigger hill. Coming down the first hill, I gained as much speed as I could to help get me up the next. I stayed to the right, knowing from my practice lap that the right was smoother and firmer ground.

After the second big downhill was a left turn past some team tents. After the turn was narrow off camber. Some exposed roots made this section even more challenging. I has some good saves.

After the off camber was a series of turns. I handled these very well. They were setup a bit wider that the BC races. They were wide enough to not require any kick-stands, but narrow enough to be challenging.

After riding across a paved section, we veered left and dropped into a small decline. The entrance was narrow due to a large sand mound on the right side. I slide a bit coming off the pavement and into the drop but stayed upright.

The course swept past the washrooms and to a fun wide turn. My back wheel slid out but I was able to stay up and in control.

Next came some flatter sections were I was sure to ride on grass as much as possible.

After a fun windy section and an uphill turn, was the barriers. I dismounted, went over, remounted, and rode on.

After a muddy right turn, and several attempts to clip back in, we rode up a small incline before dropping off a curb and across another paved section.

Photo courtesy of Jeannine Avelino/Vancouver Cyclocross Photos

On the other side of the paved section was another muddy drop off. The mud here was much deeper but I was once again surprised with my bike handling skills.

After some more turns and another small hill, the course turned left along the tennis courts. There was a much steeper off camber here. I rode along the top, but still slid down a bit as I went along. Another turn and then an uphill as we rode on a gravel section, dodging deep puddles. 

As the course flattened out, we rode through a nice wooded area. We rode past the Glotman Simpson Team tent where my friend Stu was doing an unusual hand up.

I rode past to the familiar sounds of Stu's heckling.

After a few sweeping turns, we dropped into a steep downhill. It was very fast and very slick. Luckily, I was able to stay in a rut made by riders in front and keep control through the mud at the bottom.

I rode up the hill on the other side and through more turns until the next steep drop.

At the bottom of this drop was a series of bumps. I must have taken a wider line on the practice lap, as these were a complete surprise to me.

After the bumpy ride and a nice flat section, came a left turn. . . And the Run-Up.

This was a very steep section lined with log crossing the path. I dismounted, shouldered my bike, and began the slog up the hill.

Not me in the photo

On my way up, I got bumped by a rider passing. This made for a nice little battle wound on my knee.

Photo courtesy of Patrik Zuest

I got the top and remounted. I had a bit of a reprieve on a flatter section before another steep downhill/uphill combo. At the top was another big turn. I stayed on the outside section as the middle was all very deep mud. Then another downhill/uphill combo.

This section was very technical and I was very proud of myself for riding it. Granted not fast, but on the bike nonetheless.

We jumped off anther curb and across another paved roadway before heading back into the trees. We rode past the pits, up a gradual incline, and around some turns before being back on the road we started on.

I hammered on the road, throwing mud off my tires.

As I passed the timing tent I gave them a thumbs up. I was pushing hard, but having fun.

I was now on lap 2.

With 4 different categories staggered in the field, it was hard to know who was lapping me and who was just passing me. Either way, a more crowded field added an extra (and fun) element to the race.

On my second lap, the course was more chewed up. The nice grassy grip sections were more scarce.

I was taking more chances on the corners and downhills, trying to ride the ruts left by those faster than me. There was more sliding around corners and near crashes, but through it all I stayed upright.

While trying to gain speed down the hilly section at the beginning, I got stuck behind 2 people riding side by side. I lost some momentum and hard to work harder up the hill.

The switchback section was now all mud. My back wheel spun out quite a bit, but I managed to ride through.

At the off camber section along the tennis courts, a rider passed me and I lost my balance. I thought for sure I was gong down. But somehow at the last second, I saved it.

When I got to the run up, I wanted to challenge myself. I was going to push myself through this whole technnical section.

I charged up the run up, remounted, hammered through the first downhill/uphill combo and into the turn, which was now all deep mud.

Not me in the photo

I pushed through the mud, pedaling hard! I got out of the muck and into the second downhill/uphill combo. I tore down the hill and hammered up the other side.

Not me in the photo

Then my vision narrowed. I may or may not have blacked out ,but when I came to, I was leaning over the course tape violently losing that mornings breakfast.

When I looked up, I saw a photographer snapping pictures of me. He shrugged his shoulders as if to say "This is cross." I gave him a hand wave and nodded.

I'm still looking for that photographer to get those photos.

I went under the tape and off the course. I sat on the ground content to DNF. I am not sure how long I was on the ground, but something in me made me get up and back on the course.

At that point my goals shifted from 2-3 laps, to whatever I could do. I knew I was last. How can you be laster than last? Unless you DNF, which I had already resolved not to do.

Luckily, the next portion of the course was relatively flat. I could use the last section of lap 2 to regain my composure and regain a (what qualifies in cross as a) normal heart rate.

Photo courtesy of Patrik Zuest

I finished lap 2 and passed the LED sign that read "2 Laps To Go!"

I knew that mean just one more lap for me.

Onto lap 3.

Lap 3 went pretty much the same as lap 2 minus the hurling.

Photo courtesy of Woodinville Bicycle

Photo courtesy of Woodinville Bicycle

When I passed by Stu and the GS Team tent, I pretended to go for the hand out. As I rode past I yelled, "Oh no I missed!" and pretended to hit Stu in the crotch. I rode on to the sounds of howls and laughter.

I took the run up a bit more conservatively.

I rode down the first downhill/uphill combo, but dismounted for the uphill section. I trudged though the mud that had spiked my heart rate, and sprinted on foot through the second downhill/uphill combo.

I pushed hard to the end. I was not sure how they would signal the end of the race, but once I was on the paved road I saw the LED sign read "YOU ARE DONE!"

Pretty clear.

I rode though the finish line and stopped with another group of riders. Everyone there could see how hard I pushed. I was offered lots of fist bumps.

I slowly walked back to our tent, dropped off my bike, got changed, and some much needed food.

I watched my friends race and had a great time watching the final races with them.

Later on I looked that posted results. Turns out I was not last! I came in 30th out of 32. There were a few people that only did 1-2 laps.

Lap 1: 13:00.8
Lap 2: 13:57.4
Lap 3: 12:38.2
Total: 39:36.4

Woodland Park was definitely the most fun I've had doing cx. The course was different and more like a true cyclocross course.

I am glad I did not stop racing cyclocross after Aldergrove. This has been so much fun.

I did race with a heart rate monitor for this race and set some new records in Training Peaks.

Thanks for taking the time to read about my latest adventure in this new sport. It has been a blast! I am upset that I won't be doing this next year, but I'll be deep into my Ironman training by then.

2019 Pumpkin and Queens CX

I could not end my first cyclocross season after just one race. I had to do at least one more. So naturally, I signed up for 2.

Aldergrove was hell, but once it was over, it felt like such an accomplishment. Pumpkin CX was supposed to be less hilly, but more technical. More technical is fine. It's no fun without a little challenge.

Pumpkin CX is known for people dressing up. It was a late decision to race in a costume. I had stumbled upon a good costume the night before.

We arrived early for registration and to get a practice lap in. I could tell immediately that this race would be more fun. I finished my practice lap in about 9:40 and set a goal of 3 laps.

As before, I set myself up in the back. Everyone was checking out all the costumes and joking around before the race started.

Then we were off. The start of the race gave us just enough room to get up to speed before we took a right turn and hit the barriers. It was crowded chaos.

The barriers were right next to all the team tents and several teams were doing hand ups. I grabbed a twizzler from someone as I went over the barriers.

This turned out to be a mistake. The next part of the course was a series of tight turns through a wooded area. At this point in the race it was still very crowded and my heart rate was starting to climb. I bit off a piece of the twizzler, spat it out, and handed the other half to Jen.

It was still very crowded through the tight corners and trees. I ended up running most of it just to avoid crashing.

The turns opened up a bit before the course took us out onto a road. I hammered it on this section. I even managed to pass a few people. And by people I mean children.

The long paved section turned into a gravel trail and then into a series of switchbacks.

I did pretty good on the switchbacks. I kept a good line and managed to ride all the way through.


The course did a short but steep downhill into a muddy section. I was surprised by how well I did through the mud. I managed to keep good speed and control.

The short steep climb out was one of many short punchy climbs of the race. But it the only one I could ride all the way up.

Next was a long muddy section. I did my best to stay on the grass. The 2 main things I learned about cyclocross are: If it's faster to run, then run and that grass is grip.

Photo courtesy of Jeannine Avelino/Vancouver Cyclocross Photos

I then ran up a small hill before remounting onto a gravel path. The gravel path took a 180 degree left turn and onto an off camber before heading back onto another gravel path.

The course then turned off to the left and down a fun little hill and into a sand pit. Once again, I was surprised at how I handled the sand pit.

After the sand, I ran up another hill, remounted, rode another off camber, and almost made it up the next little climb.

Then it was down a small hill, 180 degree left, small climb, 90 degree right, then to another barrier. It was tricky for me to dismount as I was going pretty fast on the approach. I'm sure I could have timed it better.

I remounted and rode past the timing tent to start lap 2.

I was dead last, but having so much fun. When you are in last place, you pretty much have the course to yourself until you are lapped.

With the twisty section past the first barriers more open, I was able to ride through the turns easier. There were still a few sections I ran, but ultimately felt good about it.

Back on the road section I picked a harder gear and powered through. I once again successfully navigated the switchbacks, mud pits, and sand pit. I still had to run up most of the punchy climbs though.

At the last barrier before the end of lap 2, I came in too fast and could not get my left foot clipped out. I almost crashed but managed to save it.

Lap 3 went much like lap 2. Some of the sharp turns started to get more muddy and torn up. This made it difficult to navigate as I sank in the mud while trying to turn. This was also were I got lapped by the race leaders.

Photo courtesy of Jeannine Avelino/Vancouver Cyclocross Photos

I rode by the timing tent expecting them to end mt race, but there was no signal to stop.

Lap 4 went pretty much like lap 3 minus the near crash.

Photo courtesy of JWPhotoworks

I rode by the tent and was signaled to stop. I met my goal of 3 laps and them some! I felt so good. This was way more fun than Aldergrove.

Photo courtesy of Jeannine Avelino/Vancouver Cyclocross Photos

I definitely could have pushed harder, but I wanted to have fun at this race.

I did have some take-aways from this race. First, I need to get better at off road climbing. I was told I need to get a larger cassette to help with gearing on the hills. I may also switch my pedals from eggbeater to something with more of a platform. This way, if I cannot clip in right away, I can more easily pedal.

All in all an amazing day.

Lap 1  8:26.447
Lap 2  7:58.418
Lap 3  7:57.572
Lap 4  8:03.727
Total   32:26.164

59 out of 63.  The only people I beat were under the age of 12.


One week later I was back at it with the Queens Cross race.

This race had a bit of everything and after Aldergrove and Pumpkin, I felt like I knew what I was doing. Or at least I could fake it.

I got there early for registration. Jen was not feeling well and was not with me. Luckily a friend was there who helped me with my number pins.

At 8:30 the course opened up for practice laps. I took one practice lap and decided not to do anymore. I wanted to conserve energy for the race. I took my arm and leg warmers off and hydrated. The lap took me about 14 minutes, so my goal was 2 laps.

Soon it was time to line up. As always the line up was full of guys joking around. Everyone was in good spirits and ready to race.

I was messing with some settings on my watch and did not realize the start was so close. I almost botched my start.

Photo courtesy of Chris Mallinson/cmall.photos

The course took us down a paved road then veered off to the left into a wooded section. It got super crowded. After some wide turns through the woods we came to a 180 degree turn with 2 barriers.

This got even more crowded. I rode high and unclipped right as the turn started, then cut across the inside to jump the barrier. But it was so crowded it was more of a walk.

Then we looped around the amphitheater and back into the wooded area.

We rode though all the team tents and past the hand ups. Someone was giving out shots of Fireball and I almost took it.

We looped back up around registration and into the windy, wooded section.

I had fun in this section. The turns were tight, but just wide enough for me to negotiate with some speed. I was sure to pick proper gears when the trail descended to gain extra speed.

By the time we exited this section and crossed the road, the field had spread out.

This next section was rough.

We came out of the woods, over the pavement, and then into an off camber. On this lap I took it too low and had to slow down to keep grip.

Then it was a downhill with a few switchbacks followed by a muddy section.

Halfway through this section was a ditch a little over a foot deep. As I approached, I thought about trying to ride it, but the entry was almost straight down. This picture does not show how steep it was because it was taken during the Intermediate Men's race. Enough people had ridden over it by then to flatten it out quite a bit.

Back on the muddy trail, the guy in front of me crashed. I went by him, trying to stay on the grass as much as possible. Grass is Grip.

After a few windy bits, we came out on a paved uphill.  I hammered up the hill.

At the top of the hill, the course turned left and into another deep. muddy ditch. I had seen this on a youtube video and knew that on the other side was more deep mud.

Photo courtesy of Jeannine Avelino/Vancouver Cyclocross Photos
Not me in the photo. 

I dismounted and jumped the ditch with one leap, moved to the side on the course and ran though the soggy ground. If I had tried to remount right away, I would have just gotten stuck in the mud.

Photo courtesy of Jeannine Avelino/Vancouver Cyclocross Photos

After the mud, I remounted and tried to ride. A few meters later, I got stuck in the mud on a turn. I jumped off and ran it.

Photo courtesy of Jeannine Avelino/Vancouver Cyclocross Photos
Not me in the photo

Then it was the toughest part of the course for me. A series of uphill switchbacks. I tried to ride them, but ended up running them instead.

Photo courtesy of Jeannine Avelino/Vancouver Cyclocross Photos
Not me in the photo

At the top was another off camber. The bottom was flat and I could see where other had ridden it, but I knew from my practice lap that I was too wide to ride it. I ran along the bottom with my bike about halfway up the incline.

Photo courtesy of Chris Mallinson/cmall.photo
Not me in the photo

At the end was a small hill I ran up. I then remounted before hitting another 180 degree right turn onto pavement.

I hammered it on the pavement and finished my first lap.

On lap 2, I was feeling more confident in my riding ability through the wooded area. I was taking the corners with more speed and control. I even got into a battle with a younger rider, but he passed me just as we crossed the paved road and onto the off camber.

I was sure to take the off camber high this time and it worked out well.

I negotiated the downhill switchbacks well, but had a bad dismount before the ditch.

As I continued to ride, I saw the same racer who fell on lap 1, fall in the exact spot again. I passed him and continued to the uphill paved section.

I had a great jump over the ditch and ran through the mud, which at this point was deeper and more torn up.

Photo courtesy of Jeannine Avelino/Vancouver Cyclocross Photos

I ran (as best I could) on the uphill section. Next year I will need to invest in some new gearing.

As I was being lapped, I was worried I'd block the race leaders on the last off camber. I looked over my should and saw that if I picked up the pace, I'd make out before I'd get passed.

I ran up the little hill, remounted, and hammered to what I thought was the end.

There was no stop signal.

Lap 3 was tough. I was not expecting a lap 3. I continued to push through the wooded section keeping my speed up where I could. I knew this was where I could gain some ground.

After the first ditch I saw the racer who had crashed on each lap.  I yelled up to him "Don't crash!"

10 seconds later, he crashed and I passed him.

I ran up the hills and through the off camber.  I jumped on my bike and hammered to the end of lap 3 and my race.

When I finished, I felt like I was going to vomit. I walked over a section of grass and collapsed. I laid on my back for a good 10 minutes trying to keep my heart rate and my breakfast down.

Once vertical again, I remembered that I lapped my watch on each lap. I took a look at my time and I did pretty well.

I chatted with a few of my friends before getting some warm clothes on.

I stuck around to watch some of the later races before heading home.

This race was easier than Aldergrove, but harder than Pumpkin, but I think it was my favorite. It had some really fun parts and some really challenging parts.

Lap 1  12:01.741
Lap 2  12:00.203
Lap 3  12:33:474
Total   36:35.418

I was 78th out of 81 and once again, the only people I beat were under the age of 12.

Even though I consistently come in last each race, I have a ton of fun. Yes it's hard. Yes it's brutal. But somehow, it is fun.

Thanks for taking the time to read this entry about my cyclocross suffering. I am not sure if I will do it next year as I will training for my first full Ironman! But more on that later.