Raced at Fair Hill in Maryland on Saturday. Went early in the a.m. with super coach Colin in the big Cadence van taking all the BMC demo bikes, tents, trainers, and all the other things a sponsor of the MAC series should bring. That is, except a decent tool kit. Oh well.
The day was awesome. The course, just spectactular. It was deftly laid out across the grounds of horse stables and fields. The overall atmosphere was strikingly positive, and the temperature bordered on being hot.It was great to watch all of the races and ride the course a lot between each of them. It was rad watching Lenore in her first pretty big time elite field. I lent her some wheels that would be excellently suited for the course. She raced well, and found out how limiting it can be to follow the wheels less apt than your own. Good lesson.
It was only a year ago that I was finding the same things out. I keep kicking myself for not being faster or racing smarter. I think I should occasionally take into consideration that this current season is my third racing ‘cross. Only one of those, the first, was spent in the “B” field. Not to mention, this is only my fourth year racing bikes at all, really. I spent some years just riding the fast group rides in Gainesville, trying to hang on to all the incredibly strong folks there. It wasn’t till maybe 2003 that a friend of mine, Dan P., convinced me to do a mountain bike race with him after I going with him to a couple of his. I did a few, and did well but kind of put it up for a while, till I realized late in the summer of ‘03(?) that I found out about the training races nearby in Lincoln Rhode Island. Living in Providence, it was a six mile ride from the shop I worked at. I did that race every week in the B division and got my upgrade to cat 4 by October. I think I only did those training crits and one real race that was on the same course as the crit for my ten races. I started ‘04 out as a cat 4 and raced the season and ended it with my 3 upgrade. That was with the first inception of the Circle A team, which I look back on fondly. The next season was ended in june for me with a separated shoulder. I took a long tour of New England with M.C. in late July to get my form back. We packed up our bikes and went out for ten days or more travelling over 100 miles each day up the shore and across the mountains. I tried my first cross race that same year on the same bike I toured on. An old lotus from the eighties that Circle A brazed some canti bosses onto. I had an old Mavic Cosmic wheel on the back, some crappy wheel on the front, road cranks, and bar end shifters. I raced at Plymouth. I got 15th in the B’s. I remember Steve Morse blowing past me on the last or second to last lap. I knew he was super strong and raced cross a fair amount, so I didn’t feel too discouraged to be beat by him. That year was the one that I finally met Molly C., and worked the pits at Gloucester for her. That was the year of the freakish snow storm. I remember working the pit and freezing with pretty much everyone else since no one else came prepared for such absurd weather. That was a big eye opener for me. I found the whole scene warm and positive, where the road racing scene was anything but. The next year all I wanted to do was race cross. That’s pretty much where this blog starts from.
Anyway, Fair hill. There were a couple of crashes directly after the prologue that set some gaps out. I tried to chase and chase, and worked with a man named Buckles, who I just couldn’t ride away from and we caught one guy. Then we got caught by Michael Gallegher (sp?) and when he attacked, Buckles went and since I had led the past lap and a half, I was pretty blown to answer the attack. I stayed just a few seconds off Buckles’ wheel, but that was all I could do and ended up tenth. Not horrible, but I guess I really need to start training right to minimize my losses. I really want to stay in the money for all the races from here out, but more than that I think I can better my standings in the Series. Got to hit some goals.