Bittersweet Start to the Cyclocross Season
Normally this is my favorite time of year. As the days get shorter and the bite of the summer heat starts to lessen the smell of cyclocross is in the air. Well, in most places the summer heat is starting to die down, but not here in SoCal. The start of our CX season is typically met with 100 degree temps and lots of dust. It's a far cry from the mud, rain and cold that most people expect but I've grown to love it.
Unfortunately, this year I won't have a cyclocross season. I'm recovering from a bad accident, on my cyclocross bike, which left me with two cracked vertebra, a broken collarbone and a broken finger. I'm extremely lucky to be in as good of shape as I am and I'll make a full recovery but it has been a difficult road. Injuries are one thing but thoughts like "what if" keep creeping into my head. What if I had been two feet to the left instead of where I was? Would I be totally fine or would things have been worse. Dwelling on things like that do no good so, with the help friends and family, I have moved on to the present and getting better.
Even though I can't race and am still wearing a neck brace I wanted to get out there with my friends and cheer them on at the races. Being at the races and taking pictures makes me feel "normal" and gets me out of the house.
This year the SoCal weather outdid itself and the temps and dust levels were at all-time highs. Dust sucks while racing, and watching, but it does make for dramatic photos. I'll have a more time to work on my photography this year so I hope to capture some great moments.
You can see the photos from this week below and you can check out the rest of my cyclocross photos in the Cyclocross Gallery.