The beginning

Until the spring of 2010 I had never even heard of CX. After I snapped the seat tube on my 8-year old Giant I-drive in April, I went into Johnny Sprockets and test rode half a dozen bikes. Most of them were road bikes (no mountains in Chicago), and none of them felt like the bike for me. But the last bike I tried was different. It was not a road bike, but a CX bike. Liam explained the differences, more clearance for wider wheels, different more powerful brakes, heavier duty frames and forks, good for winter commuting because it was aluminum and composite. So I test rode it, and all I can say about it was that it felt right. It felt like an extension of my body. Some of the other road bikes I had test ridden felt awkward and flimsy under my body. The CX bike felt like a natural extension of my me. I put the money down, and picked it up in a few days time. I had a new bike: The Falcon.

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58cm Specialized 2009 Tri-cross Comp upgraded to the expert Rival component group with Roval SL wheels.
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I was also curious about this crossing of cyclos thing that Liam had mentioned. The function of the bike I had purchased. It was in the name of the bike, in its DNA, but what did it mean? What was the Falcon's intended purpose? I went to the interwebs and found this.

2009 Chicago Cyclocross Cup from Heather Jurewicz on Vimeo.

I was intrigued. I put it in the back of my mind as something I might try when the fall came around. Until then, I just rode. Lots of riding. City riding, Lake Shore Path riding, commuting home the short way, the long way, the wrong way, always working toward that intended goal of maybe, just maybe getting into bike racing. Little did I know.