Turkey Cross and Pumpkin Ale

Thanksgiving Sunday and race #3 in the OBC cyclocross series. Since I've determined that I suck at cross, I figured the race would be a good opportunity to work up an appetite for dinner at my parent's (my Mom always whips up a mean meal!).

I might as well include a quick little blurb here about the race itself. The course wasn't very technical, had lots of long straightaways, little climbing and long uphill run-ups....all things that don't work in my favour at all. I had a decent start, and was hoping that I would gain steam as the race progressed. But somewhere along the way, I started to fade, and then completely ran out of steam by the 2nd last lap (which I was hoping was the last lap...not a good sign). I think it had something to do with this:

Great Lakes Brewery Pumpkin Ale

The night before the race, involved a *fair* amount of alcohol consumption, with minimal fluid replacement (never a good combo the day before a race....I'll never learn!). In the mix was a seasonal brew from Great Lakes Brewery, their Pumpkin Ale. The description on the bottle states that a generous amount of pumpkin was added directly to the brew, along with hints of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and allspice. Taking a good whiff of the beer before taking a sip, it smells just like pumpkin pie. On the first sip, there's no taste of pumpkin that I could pick out, just a good tasting ale, with a touch of sweetness. The spices come though in the finish though, reminding you that you're drinking pumpkin pie beer!

 A little cloudy, but reminds you that you're drinking a limited run craft beer.

A little bike talk to wrap things up. The next couple of pics show you that this was the muddiest race of the year (so far). I'm just hoping that my new cross bike show up this week so I don't destroy the parts on my Mendotta, which I'm planning to sell. I've got an Opus Spark on the way (can't remember if I mentioned that or not in a previous post...not that it really matters). I'm *hoping* that a proper cross bike gives me some sort of advantage in the upcoming races...it would probably be more of a placebo effect than anything else, but I'll take whatever I can get at this point in time.

 The muddiest race so far...I'm getting tired of cleaning my bike every Sunday...my mountain bike doesn't even get this dirty!

 My poor drivetrain.