humble pie - Plymouth and Lowell cx race report(s)

pre-registered for the elite races this wknd even though i'd only done 1 cx race. sat's course at plymouth was fast and mostly wide open. my legs were not, those guys are wicked fast, got real ugly real quick. flatted on the backside of the 3rd lap and pulled the plug. didn't realize there was nutrual support, but not so sure i wanted it anyway. as i walked up to thom, who ripped apart the B race minutes early with a 4th (was pretty epic seeing him slamming the hole-shot off the start!), he pointed-out that my 20min effort was a great opener for sunday's race in lowell. i tried to be positive, but was a whiney dink all night. jenn finally got fed-up with my lameness and says, "sounds like you got fed a big piece of humble pie." yup.

sunday, needed to have fun, see where i stand in this cx business, downgraded into the killa' B's. had a good warm-up w/thom, lined-up on the inside, the shortest line to the corner of the start/finish on an old cinder track - which worked-out great, got into the top 5 off the start. course was great for a mtbiker/bike handler, lots of tight turns, cpl short steep climbs. first two laps were at a lung-searing pace, but not merciless. one guy shed early, then another flatted, it was down to 3. i sat-on most of the race, not knowing how to pace myself, got in front on the cinder track twice to do my share, as sitting-on for the WHOLE race woulda been lame.

last two laps the tempo increased to a pretty uncomfortable level, hung-on for dear life. as we hit the open track before the bell lap, took my turn up front, a mistake, they attacked. one guy got clear, he'd been bunny-hoping the barriers and granite steps all race, pretty cool bike handling there. he used the steps to get a gap on that last lap. knew i'd lost him, but only a cpl secs off other guy, he goes down on a corner, move into 2nd and hold there for the finish. had a ton more fun than i would have way off the back in elite. would like to think i ate my humble pie and got stronger, but would have had to of raced elite on sunday to really say that... watched the elite race sunday and was immediately impressed by how much quicker they hammered-up the steep climb and down through the switchbacks... promoting from one class to the next is tough love, gonna enjoy the B's for a spell before getting my ass kicked in elite, plenty of time for that later.

runnin' up the granite steps, pic from kerry

pic from adrian fletcher, noho race, kinda looks like i know what i'm doing, must be trick photography.