CX Hangover: An Incredible Weekend in Baltimore
Where to begin about Charm City CX? We came into the weekend with relatively high expectations for fun, given that it was many of our first big UCI weekend since 2019. Some of us hoped to race well also. Some of us were just looking for crab handups. And I can confidently state that the weekend exceeded all of our expectations.
From a racing standpoint, our results spanned the range from wins to DNF’s. But the experience was about so much more than that. Having left NYC three years ago, I think the thing I’ve missed most is the fact that when we travel to big out of town races, the NYC teams become one team. Our tents merged and we had 3-4 teams all hanging out, cheering, squirting water on people racing by (which was truly life changing), and just enjoying being at a world class (and hopefully someday World Cup?) cross race. We also had a lot of great beer from our friends at Athletic Brewing which was incredible. Sunday especially was warm, and being able to enjoy the refreshments without getting drowsy was great.
I personally came out of the weekend with two wins, which was a treat. I raced Masters on Saturday and led from about half a lap in, and switched to the Cat 2 field for Sunday for a bit more spiciness and less passing (the Masters field started behind the 2’s and 3’s, so I rode thru a lot of traffic, and then started lapping riders). The 2 field was more dynamic as it took me 2 laps to catch the leader, and I was going back and forth with the faster cat 3’s. I sort of wished I had been braver and done the UCI race, but it sure was nice to win, and to be able to relax and watch the pro races!
I can honestly say that my primary takeaway from this performance is that happy people race better. I really had the time of my life, and while racing was fun, the best part was spending time with some of my favorite people. Thanks for one of the best weekends, Charm City.
The Full Gallery from Matthew
Barb is the team manager for TBD-Colorado. She loves cyclocross, gravel and mountain biking and doesn’t mind a road race every now and again. She also enjoys adventures with her Golden Retriever, the Colorado branch mascot.
