i owe super-rookie $20 bucks.

let's see if he gets it.

on to the good stuff... for most people around here, sunday was the season opener for cx.
it was a big party. like cross should be.
i think everybody was there. (except timmer, who knew there were still tt's to ride in september?)

lgr showed up to the races with myself, rookie, and little guy.

i had a race in the legs. and the littleguy was doing his first a race.
the vegans would have a tough time at the porkchop cx race in st. cloud. (ain't that ironic).

and rookie has given in to the dark side, embracing the driveside dismount.

so far, i have managed to get a decent warm-up in before the races, which is almost more important for cross than any other type of bike racing.

this has helped me avoid that pesky burning-and-heavy-as-logs feel my legs got so often last year.

so, while that aspect is going well, my starts at both races so far have been weak.
weak.

so weak i spent this first lap in st. cloud right by super rookie.
oof duh.

my start used to be one of the highlights of my race... now look;



good spot, on the front row.



look at all the traffic in front of me!

split second of hesitation, and it's over. then there is simply too much traffic to move up, so it takes laps of trying to hop from group to group, as the leaders have ridden away...

i need to get my head in the game a bit more, cuz in cx your race can be, (and often is), lost in the first 30 seconds or so.

oh well.
it ain't the end of my life or anything.

so, if you haven't heard, they made this hard course even hard with an additional big run/ride up.
i felt ok on it, and rode it every time.
ironically, i ran the other (old) run up every time, even though it was the easier of the two to ride. i passed a ton of people that way.
i should have probably tried to run the first one too... my run seems better this year.

my leg tried to argue for the first lap or so, due to the double race weekend. but they came around and i made up spots slowly, but steadily.
...to a point.

then i was stuck. so i settled in to just finish, and not lose any places.
finished 20th overall, out of 54 starters.

i really think this course is good, but man is that ground bumpy!
i probably could have went with a good 10 psi less than i ran. that would have helped.
especially since i knew there was barely any pavement on this course.

notes for next year!

lg did great and finished the a race strong, 16th or so overall - 3rd in the a2 class!

up next:
hudson! best course of the season!
orono! sand, baby! i'm think this one will be my first a race! woo!