Cross in the Glen- week 2

Well week one for me, but it was week 2 for the series. Great weather, hot almost, and a good field- 17 lined up for the elite/intermediate.
Beautiful weather, great foliage, and big mountains- oh and a slow guy on a bike

JJ and I were there in our Team Bikeman.com kits- looking to cool for school. I need to talk to Big Al (the team manager) about making some sort of girdle to wear under my jersey as I'm getting fat! Or maybe I should just stop eating so much- either way...
JJ enjoying his fans


The course was the same as last year, but for me the big difference was running gears vs the SS. I love SS riding but cross racing is hard enough for me at this point that I don't need to handicap myself!

I had a pretty good start- but I bobbled hard going into the first barrier (sorry to anyone I cut off!) I worked hard to stay with the lead group but eventually there was bit of a gap opening up- which I didn't think was a big deal as I thought I was first in the intermediates at that point, but I wasn't as I would learn later (gotta pay more attention to peoples numbers at the start next time!) I settled into a good pace and worked with other rider for a bit- but then he surged a bit- either that or I just went backwards- either way the result was I was no longer enjoying his draft. Oh well. I tried a couple times to bridge, but I just didn't have it. I'm hoping some of that can be attributed to being sick- but I'm gonna guess that even at 100% the same result would have been had.
Trying to close the gap- sooo close but sooo far

From that point on I was riding pretty much solo- keeping tabs on the guys behind and trying to make sure the elites didn't lap me. In then end I finished third in the intermediates- so I can be happy with that. The best part- I didn't fall and I felt good on my dismounts and remounts. I had been working on those pretty hard this week- and still have a long way to go- but I'm getting there! Next up- learning to corner.

later,

DEA