I Can Almost Taste It

The last two weeks of cross racing have been pretty good to me. I have managed to finish in my two best finishes ever, but that has only managed to frustrate me even more. I raced in Cross out Cancer two weekends ago and had my best placing to date, 17 out of 40, that is my first top 50% finish in any race including road. I raced the mens cat4 on my sinlge speed bike and the gearing was perfect for the course. No climbing at all and not many straight sections. My handling and my starting in the front really helped me out. I did this race last year and placed 31 out of 46. At this rate ,next year I should be a real contender.  The frustration comes from my wanting to do better. I now want a top 25% finish.

This last weekend was Joules Cross. I was really pumped from Cross out from Cancer and expected good things from myself. I was once again racing on my single speed bike and the course didn't look too hilly. I didn't have a chance to pre-ride the course and wished I had. Lots of straight aways, a spiral of death, strong head winds, off camber loose dirt and rocky sections, and a couple of little climbs thrown in just before the finish line. My gearing was good for the climbs on this course but a not large enough for all the straight sections. I had a good start, coming out of the first turns I was siting in 8th place out of 32 but it was not to be. I was slowly but surely losing my ground to everyone with gears. I faded to 17th place over all. My teammate Levon was racing with me and once again was gaining on me rather quickly. We were suppose to do 6 laps total but we were pulled after 5, If I had known that we were going to get pulled I would have sprinted to the finish hopefully passing the 16th place guy. At the rate Levon was gaining on me, I know he would have passed me on the last lap had it gone to 6, but please don't tell him that I was worried about it, I don't want him to gain any confidence for next week.

For spectating I liked the Cross out Cancer course. Kate, the baby, and I found a nice tree to sit under and watched everyone else race. Joules cross' course was on beatiful land but not many trees to sit under and spectate unless you brought your own tent. Other than that It was a nice venue.

With all that being said, BK has ordered a Jamis Nova race with my name on it. Let's see how I do with my own bike with gears. Several of the guys on the team have this bike and they do pretty well. I will be sure to post pics.