Finally - after racing all season I finally got some mud to race in. It only took travelling 3000 miles to Portland OR but it was a blast. It had been raining all week in Portland but cleared up on Friday. Come Saturday morning the course was still plenty muddy. The USGP folks did a great job laying out an awesome course. On the backside of the course was an awesome section of a motocross course whoops.
Somehow I got a third row call up on Saturday. After my usual slow start on the first lap I slowly began picking guys off. I was feeling great and really moving up fast and by the middle of the second to last lap I was running around 25th. Coming out of the MX section I shifted to an easier gear to get through the mud and the chain jammed up into the spokes. Fortunately the derailleur didn't shear off ala Trebon style but I still had to stop and dislodge it. By the time I was done I had dropped to the mid 40s. I managed to make back a couple of spots and finish 38th. Oh well - that's cross.
Also on Saturday - as promised - I dropped off cupcakes from Saint Cupcake Deluxe to the Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld crew. These guys are some of the biggest supporters of north American cyclocross. The green trailer is a familiar sight all over the country. Jeremy Powers and Tim Johnson are some of the nicest guys you will ever meet. Tim is the defending national champ and Jpows took the USGP overall title by winning on both days.
Today (Sunday) was much faster. The wind really dried up the course overnight. To make it a little more challenging the course was changed to add around 15 extra corners. Again I got a third row call up and had my usual start. I had a really clean race with no issues. One of the highlights was running into one of my east coast crossresults.com victims. Matt Hennessy of C3-20/20 cycling is a class act. I've loved doing battle with him at several races and this one was no different. After 40 minutes I came home in 34th place.
Both days I managed to meet a goal I have for each race. I try to not finish lower then my call up. Saturday I was called up 38th and finished there and today I was called up 34th and finished there. If I can work on not losing so many spots on the start I really think I can do well in the B's next season.
Tomorrow I transfer to Bend for the National Championships for what I thought was my last official race. But Ray Ignosh is putting on a Mid-Atlantic championship race on Jan 14th so it's one more race after I come home. So far this trip has been amazing. Moving on to Bend and the ensuing party there is going to be awesome.
Thanks for reading!
Joel
No comments:
Post a Comment