
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 2
nd place in his first cat 3 since the upgrade.
Nuff said. :)
For the ladies, Ali finished 5
th 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 5
th 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!