東海シクロクロス　第1戦　ふれあいパークほうらい

At last, cross season is here! A few weeks ago, I committed to racing CX this season by buying a new cyclocross bike from Planet X.

My region of Japan is known as the Tokai region, which mainly includes Aichi, Gifu, Shizuoka, and Mie prefectures. We have a cyclocross series called Tokai CX, and today was the first race of that series. Luckily, because of my past experience, I was able to start at Cat-2, rather than starting from the very lowest category and working my way up like everyone else.

I entered this race after a solid block of training, having just started to race semi-seriously again, so I came hoping for a win. Especially since I wanted to quickly upgrade to cat-1, and the only way to do that is to win a Cat-2 race.

Although I had a last row start, I was able to quickly move up by powering through the heavy mud on the course.

Definitely helps to be a power rider on a muddy course.

I quickly worked my way through the field and then attacked off the front by the end of the first lap.

After about halfway through, one rider managed to bridge up to me.

We mostly stayed together for the rest of the race, but I got gapped a little bit as he attacked through the last muddy section before the finish line on the last lap.

Looking at this picture, it’s clear I didn’t have the best tire choice for today. I’ll have to stock up on some mud tires for the next mud race..

Although I didn’t get the win I wanted, it was a great race and it felt great to race CX again. I’ll just have to train harder so that I can get my upgrade next time!

All in all, I very impressed by the Tokai CX community and vibe. It felt great to have so many people who I didn’t even know cheering for me. I forgot how much I loved CX, and I can’t wait to race some more in the rest of the Tokai CX series.

Thanks to Kikuzo Photo for the great photos
https://www.flickr.com/photos/maekawa0717/