With “regular” cross, at least in my limited experience (two races), you are absolutely red-lined from the start.  Typically my race would begin with royally screwing up clipping into the pedals, causing a blockade to those riders behind me, while the lead racers are already 30 meters up the course.  “Hole shotting” aka getting a great start, is a pretty big deal in “regular” cyclocross.

Unlike “regular” cyclocross racing, where competitors hammer themselves around a short course for multiple laps, for an hour at worse, Ultra CX goes beyond that.  Ultra CX competitors typically face an open road type course, featuring paved roads, gravel roads, sludge pits and hike-a-bike sections.  The shortest race is usually around three and a half hours in length, with some events such as the Dirty Kanza, stretching to over 12 hours for most competitors, with 200 miles of terrain to traverse.

Williston, Florida, a bustling metropolis some 22 miles south from downtown Gainesville, Florida, was the scene of Saturday’s training ride.  The route was one some of the regular limerock crew had ridden in the past.  Several new roads were added to the route, as well as a couple of tweaks to correct an issue or two from the original ride.  And, to make things interesting, the route was ridden in reverse.  In all, about 66 miles of  awesome.

Population Zero

There isn’t a lot of humanity in these parts, which also means there are few chances for hydration.  Translation, only one stop for refueling and it’s after 54 miles (85kms) of chugging mostly on limerock.

Several of the regulars were out of town, in bed, or had bikes under construction.  That didn’t stop K-Dogg, JOM, Jimbo and newcomers Shannon, Ronny (Deutchsland) and Adam (on a fixie!) from rolling up.