1. The first two laps are the worst. After that its a matter of finding your pace.

2. Clipping in and out of my pedals was not a problem.

3. Getting on and off my bike was not a problem.

4. Picking my bike up, jumping over the barriers and running with it was a problem. It took way more out of me than I expected.

5. Technique is important (duh...). If you put your bike down smoothly, your chain won't bounce off. Figuring out when to slow down and setting your line through the tight corners is key. Or thinking about it another way, having confidence at speed that you can lower your shoulder and hold your line through the tight corners is key.

6. Compared to criteriums, the speed, quickness that the pack strings out and surfaces of CX are no where near as risky.

7. I'll use a computer with a pace comparator next time. Pace is king. Once I survived the first two laps and my mind was on cruise control, I need the little arrow to remind me to pick it up.

8. Within about 10 minutes of finishing I was chatting with another first timer about how cool that was and when the next one is scheduled.

Addicting, ain't it?

Congratulations. now you're hooked. You're right, pace is king. flowing over barriers, keeping your speed after the remount, bombing that downhill and nailing that corner, momentum is critical. it's like a dance. well, for us it isn't but watching the pro's make it into a dance is beautiful.

You can look at your computer and check the pace arrow? not working hard enough!

1. The first two laps are the worst. After that its a matter of finding your pace.

2. Clipping in and out of my pedals was not a problem.

3. Getting on and off my bike was not a problem.

4. Picking my bike up, jumping over the barriers and running with it was a problem. It took way more out of me than I expected.

5. Technique is important (duh...). If you put your bike down smoothly, your chain won't bounce off. Figuring out when to slow down and setting your line through the tight corners is key. Or thinking about it another way, having confidence at speed that you can lower your shoulder and hold your line through the tight corners is key.

6. Compared to criteriums, the speed, quickness that the pack strings out and surfaces of CX are no where near as risky.

7. I'll use a computer with a pace comparator next time. Pace is king. Once I survived the first two laps and my mind was on cruise control, I need the little arrow to remind me to pick it up.

8. Within about 10 minutes of finishing I was chatting with another first timer about how cool that was and when the next one is scheduled.

You're learning! Make sure to get to the race early enough to pre-ride the course and get a good warmup. Don't know if a computer will help since the idea is to peg your effort the whole time. Just focus the lines that the other guys are riding and try to pick off the rider ahead of you.

i wouldn't learn to rely upon your computer for your pace info. You should be bouncing along enough, sweat running down the face and mud/dust everwhere that you can't read that puppy...

a good indicatator of pace... If you don't taste blood in your mouth you aren't pushing it hard enough.

But yea, the first 2 laps are absurdly fast. Know when to back off in em and know when to protect your position. A lot of guys will bury themselves too much the first 10 min. they are crawling the next 35.

Running is a pain. Practice running stair repeats early in the week. Work on jumping from one step to another with your toes, think fast feet work...

9. I shifted often but only used two gears - probably 36/25 and 24 (small front ring and the 2nd and 3rd gears in a 7 speed cluster).