Today Red traveled to Salisbury for the Cyclocross Fun Racer. The Fun Racer is a preseason event for newbies and a welcome back to the, er, crossies.

After a 45 minute orientation on mounting, dismounting, barriers, and carries, the course was opened for a twenty minute race.

I could’ve imagined a more difficult course with respect to barriers (two) and run ups (there weren’t any). However, the off-camber 180 turns into a changing road surface (packed/asphalt to sand/loose gravel) made for a more technically challenging course.

With respect to the race, Red finished on the lead lap, got passed several times. I was a little surprised that I was ready to put my foot down after 2 laps — shattering. After 20 minutes my average heart rate was 171 bpm, and I placed in the top twenty of about 50 starters.