Hardcore Hop 'n' Hurl cyclocross

Sunday's race was also at Goldbar Park in Edmonton and I was disappointed with the course. Actually, I should say I was disappointed with the course designer. The technical guide showed a course which used the Woodchopper's Trail. I did a race at Goldbar a few years ago which used that trail and it was lots of fun. Sunday's course had a very good flat section around the small lake in the park with lots of twists and turns around trees but the second section of the course hadn't been changed from the race the previous day except barriers were placed in the middle of each hill which caused me to run up both of those hills instead of riding. A very good course but I was disappointed that something new hadn't been done for more than 80% of the lap. The stakes and tape was even the same as the previous day so it looks like it was just left out overnight.
Once again, I started at the back and toured around at my own speed. I did pass a slower rider on the first lap because he was much younger and much slower than me. On the second and third laps, I had a Pedalhead rider a short distance in front of me who I was slowly catching. Someone must have told him I was sneaking up on him as he picked up his pace and increased the gap.
I averaged 19 km/h for just over 46 minutes with a maximum speed of 45.6 km/h. I felt better than the day before since I never had any feelings of giving up after I was lapped. I don't think it was because I wasn't working as hard because I averaged 165 bpm with a maximum of 177 bpm; both just four beats per minute less than 24 hours previous.
After the race, I took Peter for a lap of the course since he bought a 'cross bike for commuting and was interested in seeing the race. It was nice to have him come and have a look. My dad was out for both races and seemed to have lots of fun playing with Julie and taking pictures. LP took a lot of pictures too and some are up on Flickr. She didn't get any of Peter though. It's nice having a few people cheering even though I'm just out for fun and won't be fighting for a win unless the top 23 out of 25 other races suffer some major mishaps.