Cross Race Recap 12/09

The race report for my last Ohio cross is summed up by saying "Cold and Fast". A big group lined up in the 123, A race. The conditions were cold with temps hovering around freezing, and the conditions sloppy and as expected. The course was a 2ish mile loop with wide sweeping corners, fast descents, very long road sections, and 1 run up. The gun went off and we launched into the oblivion. I sat back about 4th for the first 30 seconds then decided to make my way to the front, we hit the first set of barriers doing 25mph, I jumped off to run and by the time I made it past the 3rd barrier I was 1st. It became very clear to me that I owned the dismounts! I raced off on and set the pace with the others following my lead through a long sustained climb, a very long road section, and then the run up that I rocked on. At the end of the first lap I was smokin' it, but tried to save some energy up, by the 3rd lap I thought we were almost done only to discover that the lap cards read 2 to go, that was not a good feeling but oh well. When I approached lap 4 of 5 I knew my best bet was to try to make big gaps whenever I could by sprinting and attacking any chance I could get. Every lap I pounded as hard as I could, even though it felt like someone had put a belt around my chest and cinched it up tight, my legs felt like that same person had poured lead into my femoral arteries- I love this sport. By the end I had finished and had ridden to my limits for the day, so I feel good about that.

The race was fast without big climbs, not my cup of tea. It was so fast that I did each lap in about 12 min. 5 laps averaging pretty high miles per hour I've been on road rides that seemed slower.

Next time I think I will try to race the B race first just to help even the playing field for the others in attendance.