Just sharing my experience this weekend.
My son Sagan, my wife, and I made the 6.5h drive to Mason Ohio this weekend for Kings Cross. This was our fourth time attending the event and my second time racing it. The event follows the usual US two-day cyclocross series. Lots of categories and 9 separate waves of races starting at 8am and ending at 5:30pm.
The course is mostly flat with less than 40m of climbing each 3km lap. I decided to race in master 50+ cat 4 knowing from previous years that it had one of the largest fields and the race time suited my schedule well. They actually have cat 1/2/3, cat 3, cat 4, and novice categories for each age group but all of the age groups for the same category race at the same time. So while there were only 16 in my specific category there were over 65 racers starting in my race at the same time.
Which makes it a lot of fun since there were a lot of people on course to chase.
The race started with a ~200m slow road climb before turning right onto the grass. I got lucky and managed to start in the second row. It was impossible to tell exactly who was in the same category but I knew I’d be much better off if I could get onto the grass as fast as possible. I had a great start and followed the wheel in front of me up the hill. Maybe half a dozen or so younger guys passed me on the start hill and on the first grass section. The beginning of the course was mostly grass but has a few small hills with off-camber turns. The course was mostly dry but still a little slick in parts from rain the day before.
I held my own and kept my position which was about 20 back. I was almost taken out by a racer who decided to try to pass on the outside on a slow off-camber turn at the top of hill. I had the racing line and knew he wouldn’t be able to make the pass because it was too slippery. He slid out and I smiled. Good ego boost.
Made it through the grass section feeling pretty good. Dismounted and ran over the 2 max-height barriers and into the forest section. The forest section was a lot of fun. During pre-ride it was barely rideable since it was wet and muddy, but by race time it had mostly dried out. I had lost a few positions on the flat sections, but managed to gain them back once the course got technical. After the first lap I realized I needed to push to ensure I wasn’t second or third wheel going into the forest. Most of the racers around me didn’t have the same confidence cornering in the wet.
After the forest section was another long grass section with several higher-speed corners. I tried to focus on riding smooth, leaning the bike, and avoiding brakes. No real opportunity pass though until the finish straight which was up the same road climb that we started with.
After the first lap I mostly held my position but since I didn’t know who was in my category I just focused on trying to catch the guy in front and avoid getting caught. I was probably losing 30 seconds a lap to Keith who I knew was likely going to take the win for my category. But I kept consistent lap times and felt reasonably good despite the fact my lungs were still not 100% after a virus I picked up weeks before.
I was trying to catch guy in front of me for the entire last lap. I could tell I was getting closer, but when I got to the pavement for the finish straight he was already a third of the way up the road and sprinting. I tried but didn’t have the power to really catch. But I could hear my wife, Sagan and a few friends cheering so I had to at least make it look like I was trying.
I didn’t know where I had placed but was hoping for top-5 out of 16. Thankfully they posted the results almost immediately and I found I managed to get on the podium in the not-so-fast-old-man category. Still satisfying though.
My son Sagan raced in the Elite category on both Saturday and Sunday but didn’t have the greatest races. He got a rear flat on Saturday and ended up switching bikes twice. Having an insert meant he was still able to ride to the pits. The much bigger problem was that his lower back was really sore and prevented him from putting down much power. He rode at tempo for most the race. He felt better on Sunday but still not 100%. He almost made it to the top 20 though and more importantly he had fun and enjoyed the race. So all good. Racing in the elite category at age 18 isn’t an easy ask.
Overall it was a great event and weekend. Note the 2nd person on the podium was just filling in 
Friendly people, good food, entertaining commentator and good music. And beer. And lots of novice racers which is good to see.
