A Slippery Grease Fest at CX Bike Indy Day 2

Starting the season

What a way to start my 2026 cross season! There are only a couple of races left in the year, but my wife and I spent most of September on a national park tour of California, so this was my first cross race back. I love Eric's courses, and this one was almost as epic as last year.

Wrong tires, wet course

I figured it was going to be dry, so I ran my Rene Herse 40mm gravel tires, tubeless at 20psi. It rained for a few hours before my race, and the course turned into a slippery grease fest. That was the wrong tire choice.

The descents were harrowing anyway. The biggest down/up was so scary that after riding it the first two laps, in the interest of my safety, I ran the optional bypass on each of the remaining laps.

The race

It was a 55 minute Cat 1/2 race, and I was ill prepared for it. The course was so technical that I really didn't even get my heart rate up. Cross is usually my rare opportunity to go anaerobic, and this time it didn't happen.

Paul and Lance each lapped me twice. They did 8 laps to my 6. It was still super fun, though. I love muddy CX races.