My 2 cents. With 30 seconds to go for the start of Saturday's Cascade Classic, one of the twins came running up asking for 5 minutes more. You see, they JUST arrived and needed time to get ready. Unfortunately, the group as a whole was not ready to oblige (Matt and I said nothing, which I'm oddly proud of).
We took off, and there was a crash on the first turn that I had to stop for and ride around. Picked off riders while on Double-A's wheel, then he took off on the first set of climbs, leaving me in 5th to reel in the group containing the front 3 on my own. No problem, got within 10 seconds of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th after Double-A blew by them on his way to victory. Then, I took a wrong turn on an unmarked junction, along with a slew of others. Boo-yah. Hoofed it back up the fire road I accidentally descended on after being scalded by Matt for talking about how we got lost (thanks for setting me straight!). I then tried to keep my focus and make up as much time and as many spots as I could.
Nearing the end of the race, I picked up two more Pro/Open racers who were pretty tired. I had some energy, but as we were in some sloppy & technical singletrack I decided to wait until the final set of climbs to make my move on them. Unfortunately, a set of straggling sport racers decided to mix it up with us, despite our rather polite request to let us pass. We kept our cool until a short road section, but I had to dismount as they stopped us over a tree-hump obstacle and briefly lost contact. Down the road, I tried to pass them before a steep descent, asking to be let through and race my race, but they again were oblivious to our pleas, so I tried to pass anyway. My mistake, as there was a skewed set of logs I didn't see that caused me to slip, my right foot unclipping and my pelvis crashing down on the back of my Fizik Antares saddle, which is not known for its padding. Pain.
Eventually I got up, the pain subsiding, and rode into the finish. Miraculously, I finished 8th and still made a few bucks. And to boot, the organiser returned my entry fee for the wrong-turn, admitting that they forgot to mark that corner in the morning. Very stand-up thing for him to do, and greatly appreciated!
In the end, super happy with the way my form is coming around. And I still feel I have a lot more gains to make! This helped dull the disappointment of missing out on a top-5, or very possible top-3 result.
This coming weekend I'll be heading up to Lagrangeville, NY for a Campmor/H2H series race that I did last year, the Tymor Park Challenge. I enjoyed this course last year, and am looking forward to racing it again. And word on the street is Martin will be coming with his pimp new Giant XTC 29er. I predict a very good dat indeed.
Sorry for the lack of pics, Toodles......
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