A cross race for me...?

So normally, it takes a couple of days for me to post one of these (sorry Kelly, its another cycling blog...) but i had *such* a great race day that it needed to be done now...

SCW Cross, Lansing IL 30 mins
I was supposed to get in a 30 min warmup, to which some of my fellow riders laughed at when i mentioned it since i'm always the one getting there "late". I think i got about 15 mins in...oops. The course was relatively flat, definitely made for the roadie in me, with 2 sets of barriers (one had 3 barriers as a set) and a large/deep sandpit. Otherwise, just a lot of curves and turns, some interesting pavement in that it was circular. With all the leaves on the ground, one section was actually worrisome b/c i was thinking it might be slippery.

Race started out really well, i had a good position and rode 4th into the trees. The first set of barriers came quick and thinking i needed to get over the barriers fast, i didn't brake. Stupid. When i jumped off the bike, my feet slammed into the ground and freaked me out. That and i forced to run fast to avoid falling was not a good idea. This caused me to lose a spot in the "paceline" (can it be a paceline when most people have a couple of bike lengths in btw?) and i worked back up to ABDer Gina. For the rest of this lap, i stayed on gina's wheel. I was thinking that since she's looking to cat up and i'm not really in contention for anything, i was going to work to get her at least 4th place. This meant putting some distance in btw us and the rest of the field and catching up to the top 3 riders. I yelled to her "I'm not going to pass you, lets get Imelda!" b/c we could actually see each on this course since it just wrapped around and around in each lap. 3rd place would have been awesome for gina and imelda was close enough that we could get her.

Coming into the next lap, IM was about 3 lengths ahead. I noticed the areas that she slowed and i knew where G needed help. G's dismounts/mounts are great, whereas mine are lacking, but its the opposite when it comes to pavement. I would pull on the pavements and try to close the distance. we caught up to IM at the sandpit, where i passed both G and IM. IM bobbled a bit and started drifting right, so i pedaled fast to the left and overtook her, hoping that G was in tow. She was now drafting off of IM, but not too far behind. I kept going...G is strong and i expected her to break free and we'd work together, but it turned out that the chase effort was a little much. ABDer Jim kept yelling "POWER SUE POWER SUE!!!" at random places on the course (how did he get there so fast?!) Until the 2nd to last lap, i was ahead of both by a few lengths and i knew that if i kept that pace up, i'd take 3rd (whoa! how'd that happen?!)

Passing the officials, i saw that the time counter said 28 mins. The officials had told us that we'd finish on the same lap as the leaders, so i thgt "this is the last lap!" and pushed it. Since my mounts are ...well, sad actually...i needed to be ahead of IM in order to take 3rd. Around and around, on to the pavement, i pushed the gear and put my "wet leaves" fear aside. To the sandpit, i unclip the right and unclip the left. Closer yet, apply a bit of brake, and swing my right leg over and lift up my left foot. Lift up my left foot. wait...LIFT LEFT FOOT! It had clipped back in and down i went. I crashed pretty hard but heard "GO IM! GO IM!" and that was more motivating than "GO SUE" b/c i didn't work this hard to lose it in the last few hundred ft. I jumped up, grabbed the bike that was now actually a few ft in front of me and ran thru the pit. Hopped back on, IM was so close, i heard her breathing. Another gear down, i just kept pedalling and i saw her right behind me coming up to the finish line and the official says "ONE LAP TO GO!"...

You gotta be kidding me. All that effort for the sprint finish, by both me and IM, for nothing b/c we had 1 lap to go even though the counter now said 32 mins. I slowed done majorly, but still ended up first over the barriers. I slowed enough to make IM pull. I knew, once again, i had to be in the pit first. I had passed IM there b4 and the course after the pit had pavement. IM is an awesome roadie/track, so had she gotten ahead of me in the pit, i would most likely take 4th. On the pavement b4 the pit, i passed her and gunned it. Into the trees, i was probably only a bike length ahead. Into the pit and out, i'm still ahead but she's right on my tail. Onto the pavement, back on the grass, towards the finish line, its a repeat of the previous lap. I see her wheel on my left and i have one gear left. Down it goes, i push it and throw my bike! I HAD IT, I TOOK 3rd! I waited for the official results b4 going on my cool down, but IM came and said congrats, as well as some other riders.

this race was so exciting. not only did i place the best in any of my cross races, but besides JP, this was the only cross race that i was actually competiting in since i hadn't had any mechanicals or lots of stupid mistakes to drop me back. It really pushed me and i loved the sprint finish (so much that i did it twice!). Such a great race day...