A quick trip to the shop and a little pleading to a friend resulted in a new hanger and derailleur. When all hope of racing was lost there was a light a few short hours later. A huge thanks to Chris for letting me borrow his derailleur!
Anyway, the race went really well. Raced B's with the intention of being competitive and just getting used to the cross bike again. If the legs were there to place well then good, if not, I could live with that.
A brief rundown of the race: intentionally started slow. If I go out full-gas from the start I typically make a critical mistake and pay for it the rest of the race. Start of the second lap I am able to make my way up to the leaders and there's 4 of us. A few laps later I lay the bike down in some super deep dust/sand. Hop back but and chase, chase, chase, I make contact with the leaders again. One guy gets shelled out the back, followed a lap later by Joe from Capa. And now it's just down to some guy in an ugly light blue/green kit and me. Well, looks like I have to work now. I attack, the guy follows. I lead for a little while, fall back, attack again. Blue/green dude follows. This happens about 4 more times before I realize we're both strong enough that one of us isn't going to ride away from the other. We trade pulls and just generally ride away from the field. I can't see anyone immediately behind us except the remnants of other fields we're currently lapping.
The racing really started with two laps to go. I attack and can tell blue/green man is still really strong. Hell, he hasn't gotten out of the saddle the entire race! I fake an oversteer on a corner and force him into the lead. And there I sit. This guy seems happy to sit there and pedal his heart out while I sit my lazy little butt on his wheel.
One lap to go. The pace picks up. He's taking corners closer and riding in a more direct line rather than maneuvering for the packed ground. Up and down the hill. I'm still upright. The blue/green dust covered blob is still leading me around the course. 1/2 mile to go. Down the gravel. I accelerate and open a little gap. I know he'll close it but once we get into the technical section he won't be able to pass me as long as I can stay vertical through the corner and not break a chain in the final sprint. Through the last corner and i'm off. I ease up on the gas, look back, he's still coming, I give it a little but not so much as to crush his spirit. I coast across the line by probably half a bike-length. Overall, good race but don't feel like I worked my legs too hard; instead, my internal gas mask was working overtime trying to filter out all the dust. After the race I was afraid to drink water for fear of turning all the dust into mud in my stomach. Well not really, but pretty close. It was bad out there.
There should be more pictures coming so I'll post them as they come in.
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