kerry-litka.com|small things considered

Come on, you knew it was coming.

After a 3 year hiatus from cross racing, I decided to make a return to the silly sport. This decision was triggered by my acquisition of a custom cyclocross bike built for me by Terry. I swore I would return to cross when I had a bike that fit. Well, I have that now, so I guess I need to make good on my promise.

Sometimes I should just turn off my inner filter and  say what I really think, which is that I don’t like cross all that much.

I think I like the idea of cross more than the sport itself. I like the things associated with cross. I like cantilever brakes and narrow yet knobby tires and weird sized chainrings. I like the longsleeve skinsuits. I like cowbells.

I do not, however, like cold, wet, muddy or snowy conditions. I don’t like crashing. I don’t like spontaneous equipment failure and I don’t like cleaning my bike.

So why exactly am I doing this?
Beats me.

But yesterday morning I found myself getting up at 4:30am so that I could be on my bike at 6, doing repeats on my cross bike up a steep grassy hill at a local park, alternating between riding and running until my heart rate was near 180 and I was soaked in sweat beneath my layers of thermal clothing (it was a mere 38º F outside).

Which leads me to tomorrow – quite possibly the biggest cross race in the country, the race formerly known as Essex County Velo Cyclocross, a race that has been in existence for quite some time and has evolved from a local club event to an internationally sanctioned mega race.

I have a love/hate relationship with this race. I have never, ever raced well at this venue. Never. I raced my first Supercup there in 2000 on a converted mountain bike with drop bars and UCI-illegal Club Roost 26×1.5″ CrossTerra tires. I came in last in the Elite Women’s race. Despite a bike upgrade and improved fitness and bike handling skills, I have never done better than a finish in the bottom 5% of riders at this event. I continue to go back because it is as close to a home town race as I can get for cross – my brother lives in nearby Essex and I grew up in Topsfield, my dad worked in Gloucester periodically and it seems that whenever we went out to dinner as  family, we always ended up at someplace in Gloucester, where I could happily order fish sticks from Gortons on any menu. Stage Fort Park feels like home to me.

Speaking of my first race in Gloucester – let’s reminisce a bit about my first season of cyclocross.

The year was 2000.

(cue music – electronica techno remix of “Porcelain” by Moby)

I was a Category 4 road racer. I wanted a cross bike but couldn’t find one that fit me and couldn’t afford a custom bike, so I converted an old Gary Fisher Tassajara rigid frame into a cross bike. I dubbed it the “Ghetto Cross” and signed up for my first race, the Palmer Bike Swap/Cyclocross Race, which was held in late September and was the official start of the cross season here in New England. (Yes, back then cross racing actually started in the fall. What a novel concept).

I entered the beginner/ “C” race – a field comprised of men, women, children, masters, and anyone else who wasn’t an A or B level rider. Back then you self selected your category in cross and seeing as I had never done a cross race, it seemed appropriate that I do that race. I think maybe 6 or 7 women were in the group, along with 15 or so men and a handful of juniors.  The race started off and I made my way around a relatively non-technical course and discovered upon crossing the finish line approximately 30 minutes later that I was the winner of the women’s race. I got a nifty little trophy and went into the Bike Swap that was held in conjunction with the race where I promptly spent $50 on a pair of Justin Spinelli’s old mountain bike wheels in an attempt to lighten my 25lb Ghetto Cross.

Life was good. I had won my first race. I then did what no self respecting cross racer in 2009 would do – I upgraded to the Elite category.

See, that kind of shit doesn’t happen these days. These days you go to a race like Gloucester and there are a mere 30 women in the Elite field and 70 entered in the 3/4 race. Because of the new cross category system, we have women who are Cat 2s on the road racing in the Beginner cross race. They do this for 2 reasons – based on a technicality, they may have little cross racing experience and still be a Cat 4 in cross, thus forcing them to choose that event. They also are cheap mofos who don’t want to shell out the $150 for a UCI license in order to race Elite.

This really pisses me off. Back in 2000 I was racing on a goddamned 25lb mountain bike with a 105 9 speed rear derailleur, a single front chainring, an RX100 rear shifter, a 7 speed Deore cassette and a Campy 9 speed chain.  And I was doing this in the Elite race. I bought the UCI license the day of Gloucester so I could race the Supercup.

Fast forward to 2009 and we have Cat 1 road riders racing in the 3/4 women’s race. Sure, you might claim you are a novice at cross but you don’t belong there. You’ll do fine in the Elite race. In fact, it will probably be a crap load easier seeing as there are only 30 of us and you have a whole 45minutes, thus giving you more time to sort shit out and pass people. If you think you are going to get your ass kicked, trust me, you will but so will nearly everyone else out there.  I race elite because that is what it says on my license – CX Cat 2. If I want to race a Verge series race here in New England, I have no choice but to spend the $150 on the international license. I would love to save that money, but seeing as nearly every race weekend is UCI, if I want to race cross I have to pay for the big girl license – and I do so happily.

Back in the day I was actually fairly competitive. I had UCI points and got call ups. I won money. In 2003 I finished the season in the black.  I have a photo of myself racing the UMASS Amherst International CX race in 2000, which was at the time the only UCI race in New England. The barriers were ankle high and there were multiple sets of triples. Ah, those were the halcyon days of yore.  And then things changed. Barriers got taller and bikes got lighter, but I stayed 59″ tall and my bike is still 23% of my body weight.

As I prepare for my 6th non-continuous season of cross, I reflect back on the way things were a decade ago and compare it to what I see now. And to be honest, I am not sure I like where things are going. I think it’s great that we have over 100 women racing this weekend. My question is, where are these women during the road season when we barely have 15 riders on the start of a 1-4 downtown crit with a ton of prize money? Why is the 3/4 field over twice as large as the elite? Why are there Cat 2 road riders with multiple wins and podium finishes this season racing in a beginner race?

I understand the need for a concrete category system in cyclocross, but I think that too many women riders are working the system. Hey, I’d love to not buy a UCI license and enter a race I was actually competitive in. Let’s face it, unless a big hole opens up and swallows the entire field, I am never going to win an Elite women’s cross race. Sure, I could choose to only race in non UCI races and save money on the license and the entry fees…but I think we all know that the bigger races with the huge crowds and festival-like atmosphere are a lot more fun. I understand that you want to be part of “the big dance” (by the way, I really, really hate that term). However, if you want to be part of the big event, you should suck it up and race the category you are supposed to be in. Get your ass kicked by the best riders in the country in front of thousands of people – it will toughen you up and teach you what cross racing is all about.

Cross is not about making people feel good about themselves – if you want that, go do a triathlon. Cross racing is hard, it’s mean, it’s head to head. It’s a fight to the end. A friend of mine described his race strategy at the opening weekend Verge race as “Podium or Hospital”.

Podium or Hospital…I think that pretty much sums it up. But racing down a category so you can achieve the Podium without putting yourself into the risk area of Hospital kinda takes the spirit out of things…no?