This is still easily one of my favorite cx courses out there. No, it's not a "true" cx course, more like a dirt circuit race with tons of climbing and a pretty unique course feature (below), but regardless, I like it.
 |
the Ninkasi "N"
(photo courtesy of Dave Roth) |
I showed up late to the start line so I wound up starting at the back. Really, not that big of a deal when the hole shot is 400m up a paved hill. The first lap seemed really weird, it didn't seem like people were really trying or pushing it. Maybe they knew it would be a long race and were saving it or maybe I was just being stupid and riding to hard. Regardless, halfway through lap two I was in third place. Reeb and Brody were up the road and I knew there was no way I could catch them so I settled in and tried to keep a gap to the two-man chase which had a 15-year old from Boise in it. The last thing I wanted to do was get caught by a junior.
And then I did something stupid. I was hanging 5-8 seconds in front of the chase group and at the very top of the climb I slid out. Not just dab-and-slide but a full on wipe out, roll and slide. By the time I was back on the bike I'd been caught. I hung with the two and was amazed at how easy it was just following wheels. And then I made the mistake of looking down for half a second. When I looked back up Ian Leitheiser (Moots/Cyclepath) had attacked and potato-boy was on his wheel, I was 3 seconds back. It was all downhill from there.
I finished the day in 5th but really could have been on that podium. Potato-boy (William Barta-B.Y.R.D.S) rode a great race and although I don't agree with sitting on wheels all race I'm impressed that he was able to haul Leitheiser around all race and then still drop him. Yeah, I could have ridden a little smarter and probably wound up 3rd on the day but it would have involved a whole lot of wheel sucking. Not my kind of thing. Oh well, Cross Crusade at PIR tomorrow, we'll see how it goes.
No comments:
Post a Comment