Saturday –
Rob – Cat 4/5 Race
Woke up at 3:45am to drive 1.5 hrs and race at 7:30am which is f’n ridiculous but more on that later…. Got there and it was still dark, bathrooms open and registration opened at 6:30. Got 1.5 laps in as warm up and knew right away I was going to struggle on this course as the back section was crazy slick. Start temp 50 degrees and I raced in tank base layer and TOR SS jersey which was right choice. I got 3rd call up as I’m finally regaining points after 2 shitshow seasons. Race went off fast…. 3rd wheel and wood flyover the guy in front of me spun his wheel and went down causing a mess and pushed me back a couple of spots. The back section run-ups are barely walkable let alone running…. Bring spikes if you got them and pedals that don’t cake up. A guy raced on a mtb which was BS but probably the right choice as he barely had to dismount. My 1st lap sucked but started to get in a rhythm on 2nd and then the bell went off at start of 3rd at 21 minutes! Wtf…. No chance of regaining the gap in front of me. Ended up 8th out of 37 or so. Anyway…. Very technical course and tough this year with slick spots and peanut butter mud. Good luck and have fun!
Sunday
Ken – Cat 4/5 Race
It looked like trouble right at the start of staging. For some reason, I wasn’t on the call-up sheet so I started in the back. I was lined up 30th of 34. From the gun, I fought to move up fast. I was in the teens by the fourth turn (the 180 near the pavilion) and about to make it to the top 5 group but due to some congestion and a tire into my rear derailleur, I dropped my chain to the outside of my cassette. By the time I dismounted, got it back on, and going I was in last place by a lot. From there it was just head down and hammer. Through the prolog half lap, I moved up to the teens again. The first time over the flyover there was a crash and I was forced to run and that fly over when wet was ice. Took a ton of time to get up and over. Continued to claw back and by lap 2 I was riding with another guy who wanted to pull through. So I let him and sat on his wheel. He pulled me through the open field section and through the S/F. I jumped him in the jungle to then dropped him with 1.5 laps to go. I was solo to the end but was trying to gain on 6th. Another 2 laps and I could’ve gotten there. 730 starts are rough but the cool temps and the slick grass provided my ideal CX conditions. The only thing that would have made this better would be 2 inches of mud everywhere.
