Cyclocross Race

I did my first cyclocross race yesterday. The course was not more than a half mile from my apartment. I could literally watch people ride from our porch, so I had no excuse to not go ride. I was fairly nervous, since I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but I had gotten a little instruction a couple days beforehand. My roommate Jane had told me about a group that gets together in the park on Tuesdays and Thursdays to practice cyclocross. So I showed up, and Davin, Doug, Kate, and Mark were kind enough to teach Jane and I the ins and outs of mounts, dismounts, run ups, barriers, et al. Only later did I realize that Kate was Katie Compton, the current cyclocross national champion. She's also the sighted pilot for a Paralympics tandem, which absolutely rocks! I'm jealous.
Anyways, I showed up for the race, and they told me I could either race Mens Cat 4 or Womens Open. I chose the Open, even though it meant riding with Katie, Kelli Emmett, and all the other pros. Talk about being thrown to the lions! Unsurprisingly, I got creamed, but I didn't get lapped, none of the 35+ ladies (who started slightly after us) caught up to me, and I actually finished 7th out of 8! I had a great time. It's basically the gong show, putting road bikes on dirt, and then forcing people to prance like little exhausted fairies in spandex over the barriers. Damn funny to watch, very hard to ride. My favorite part by far was trying to take the righteous dirt corners faster than any of the women, even though they were beating me in every other way. And there was free beer afterwords. I'm thinking I'm gonna ride more 'cross.
Ok, I found a photo post here.