CX is (FINALLY) here!!!

Last week I found out that I'm not the only one who lives for the crispness in the fall air, the changing of the leaves and inevitable ringing of cowbells at cyclocross races!!  

I heard of a week-long CX kick-off session coordinated by the awesome gang at Panache and of course, I couldn't resist going to see what the buzz was about.  Boy am I glad I did!!  What better way to get to meet other cyclists (especially the crazy CX kind) and get amped up for the season than by dusting off the cobwebs with some practice!

I've always been intrigued at how other people share their knowledge of something that I struggle with.  Admittedly, I've been timid with fast cornering on both my mtn and CX bikes (one too many crashes in a corner will do that to a person!). This summer, I've made it my goal to soak up as much info as possible and overcome this dumb fear of mine.  Thankfully, the CX group worked on this skill every day last week and we had a different "coach" each day who give his insight on what techniques he used and why.  It was absolutely great!!  Hearing the different ways each leader described the same corner and providing his experience was a huge help to me and gave me the understanding that I lacked (or maybe was reluctant to embrace).  The 5am wake-up call was well worth it if I had only improved on this one skill, but we covered everything! Starts, dismounts/remounts, bunny hops, stairs, pump track (my FAVORITE place now!) and hot laps were all part of the early morning fun!  

As if it couldn't get any better, on Friday we were fortunate enough to have the one and only Katie Compton join us!!  She came to Panache for a photoshoot and ended up doing some laps with us and even jumped in on the pump track fun.  After ripping around on the pump track for a while, I was able to talk to Katie about her acceleration out of the turns and through the straightaways.  I was absolutely ecstatic to stand there and chat with the most recognized CX racer of all times, and then later to hang out at Panache and chat some more over coffee and donuts.  

PS - even pros eat dirt once in a while and Katie wasn't shy to show us a video of one of her epic crashes. Talented, fast and super nice doesn't scratch the surface of what makes KFC the best CX racer ever!

PSS - I'm happy to share the tips that Katie gave me, but you'll have to join me at the pump track to find out what they are!!  ;-)