It was a the perfect day for a cross race. Rain, clouds, cool...but not too cool. I think I finally got the smell out of my kit from starcrossed, just in time!
We had a great turnout today! Ali, Nancy and Kelly (our newest woman's member...all the way from Michigan!) were representing the cat 4 woman's race. Scott and Steve were racing masters. My teammate Dave and I decided to do the 9:30 as a warm up. Plus, I was testing out a "bar cam" from our new sponsors over at VholdR. (the footage is very cool, more on that later!)
Dave and I lined up in the back as to not interfere with the lead group. I was having blast and taking it easy with the POV cam when suddenly I heard "on your right Brian!" only to see Scott from the 45+ race passing me! He later went on to WIN the 45+ in only his 3rd cross race EVER! Can you say natural?
Cat 3 report in one sentence: Vern took 2nd place in his first cat 3 since the upgrade. Nuff said. :)
For the ladies, Ali finished 5th and I remember Nancy and Kelly having strong fin
ished as well (sorry guys, post your place in the comments!). After the race we noticed Nancy did a number on herself and bloodied her lip and STILL finished the race. One tough gal!I took down a quick recovery drink and lined up for the 10:30 cat 4 race. Had a front row spot and was determined to make it a good start. From the word "GO!" I was charging hard and found myself in 5th going into the twisty sections. Things were looking good until the left corner right in front of the building where you go from grass to concrete. I came in too hot a WHAM...I'm on the ground sliding. I got up and had to re-buckle my shoe and straighten my left brake lever. By this point I'm at the very back. I look down and my knee is bleeding pretty good but I put it out of my mind and hop on.
Now I'm PISSED off for blowing a good start and riding like a man possessed. We hit the first single track and it's a cluster &*%&. Exactly what I was trying to avoid. Everyone was staying in the middle despite the fact that the lane is 15 feet wide so I hop off and run down the right side over the bushes, logs, whatever and pick up about 7 places. We drop into the second singletrack and I just have to be patient until we get to the top. One by one I keep trying to move up and my knee is killing me (along with other parts of my body) but nothing worth stopping over.My teammates are SCREAMING at me at this point knowing I'm hurting. Dave seems to be everywhere on the course shooting at me. It truly made it easier and a lot more fun!
I crossed the line and managed to go from dead last to 33rd out of about 70 riders. I wonder what might have been if I didn't crash but just had to step back and take it in. That's racing!
What a great course and a great event! Ragnarok should be proud!
Off to sunny Arizona and Las Vegas for work on Wednesday for 5 days!
Shameless plug, if you haven't yet, register for the Starbucks GP on November 1!
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6 comments:
Nice job on making up so many places!
I wouldn't consider my finish to be a "strong" one. :) I'm still trying to figure out this whole off-road thing. I am not a mountain biker in any way. In fact, I find it terrifying.
Also, if you have any trouble with the videos, let me know. I thought I heard you say that you have a Mac, and because of the xvid codec, you either need to use the VLC player or convert the files for iMovie. But maybe you know that already!
-Kelly
Give it time, you'll be charging the barriers in no time!
Might take you up on the video format and working through the codec. I'm ok with playing it but haven't found a free conversion program yet.
One of these days you'll ride a flawless race and you'll dominate. In the meantime, I am beginning to see that cross is all about havign to fight your way up at every point. That's what fun to watch, when a teammate goes down and gets back up again PISSED, and crushes everyone in front of them until the officials make them stop.
Brian, that was an awesome post! I just got back from my little 4 mile ride and I officially feel like a wuss. Sucks about the crash, but you made the best of it. Props!
Thanks for the info in your commetnt on my blog (two-wheeled revelations). I'll see if I'm available for the race on the 1st. Although my friend Becky is no longer fighting cancer, I'd love to be part of raising money for those who are.
As for the frustration of crashing in a cyclocross race, you are not alone. I was running tubeless (using Stan's) at Crosstoberfest, and blew my tire off the rim on the asphalt turn in the infield area. I was unable to get back on my bike and finish the race. In addition, I really messed up my hip. The last of the swelling is just going away now.
Good luck at Donida Farm.
CK2002 - I'm really sorry to hear that you lost her to cancer. We've been touched by so many stories of people who have battled this diseases. We hope to see you there! I'll be the guy with the radio looking stressed out so please stop by and introduce yourself if you do come!
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