a tale of two races

MvilleCX_c
Originally uploaded by mahokeyj

murrysville - last saturday

muddy as hell, but way better then the muddy as hell and rainy snow mixed in of last year.

small field and my slow enduro start ensured my last position going into the first turn. twas not what i was planning.

soon, i was making up ground. moab helped my technical and power, so my handling was helping me make up some ground.

soon, i caught a group with gerry in it and i went blowing right by them into third. this was about half way through.

3 minutes later on the backside of the course, i went down in a spectacular muddy crash that would give one of the riders i just passed a gap that he would hold. he finished 3rd.

now gerry and i were fighting it out for 4th.

a series of bobbles and good lines turned muddy bad and gerry had a gap with one to go. gerry makes a mess of one of the last turns and has to back track. i get close enough to gerry to almost nick him at the line.

mike took the win, gerry 4th and ernesto 5th. 3 speedgoat sponsored riders in the top 5.

racoon

i should of made like a racoon and hid from the daylight during this race.

stretched cables made my shifting bad (didn't figure this out until i got home) and had my chain/gears upshifting the entire time i was in the race.

gun went off, i had a decent start, but still was towards the back. as soon as i was catching up to the 2nd group, my chain dropped and i lost contact and about 20-30 seconds.

i catch back up, only to overshoot a corner and to have the howling wind blow the course tape into my bike - it then wrapped around both wheels, my crank and 3 times around my cassette.

at wits end and at least 2 minutes in last place, i pulled the plug. cross takes enough out of you as it is and i wasn't about to pull a miracle. better to save myself and my equipment for another day.

next up - double halloween cleveland cross weekend. no costume, but i hope to passing out treats of pain.

sologoat out