CX XILINX

I cyclocrossed today in Longmont at the Xilinx campus. It's one of my favorite venues and the cold was not going to deter me. I think it topped out around 45 degrees. It was a cold 45 because of a slight drizzel and overcast skies. The course which my teammate described to me 2 days ago was bumpy and hardpack no mud. The off and on rain and 4 or 5 races before me softened up the dirt enough and turned one section into a veritable mud bog. I didn't get too much of a warmup as I had a flat tire after 1/2 a practice lap and was forced to do a tire/tube change 15 minutes before the start. I didn't have a great start, starting near the back, and was unprepared for the 0-60 start that is the norm for these races. I just kept it real and did my best not to be last. 1/3 a lap in, my teammate who was in the singlespeed division starting 1 minute behind me comes flying past me. Soon after that, it seemed like the entire singlespeed category had passed me. Whoa, this is going to be a long race I thought. About halfway through the 45 minute ordeal I started to feel better and actually caught and passed some riders. I was relieved when I crossed the line with 1 lap to go. It's almost over. Of course there has to be someone making a last minute dig to pass the next rider up. So I had a battle on my hands and I wasn't going to let him catch or pass me. Everything was clicking on the last lap. No bobbles, slips, or errors. Not sure were I finished but it makes no difference when you are having fun.
Of course all the mud took a toll on the bike and clothes. No pictures unfortunately, but it took me an hour to clean the bike and hose off my shoes. I'll probably have to disassemble the freehub and bottom bracket as they sound horrible.
Snow is forecasted to fall tonight so I should wake up to a white Sunday.
The Pellet stove is kicking out some great heat drying my shoes, clothes, and bike. Even on low it maintains a nice temperature of over 70 degrees in the living areas. here is a video of cross, not the race I did.