whiskey island cross

Whiskey Town cross, was the second stop in the Northeast Ohio Cyclocross Series held this past sunday -- where i was hoping for some redemption of last weeks double mechanicals with a rolled tubular and a loose canti brake stud on my spare. the race was over for me in two laps last week, i was not looking for a repeat dnf.

i opted for the newly wobblenaught fitted focus marres for the day, rolling clinchers. normally i am ok on clinchers, but a quick few pre-race laps of the course had some concerns for me with all the glass and the tight corners. tight corners cause a clinchers sidewalls to give out every once in awhile if you are coming in hot - the lower the pressure, the higher the probability. i was running pressure pretty low, but i decided to put a few more pounds in the rear to avoid the clincher sidewall issue as well as the likelyhood of a pinch flat.



gun goes off and i get my customary cruddy start and am at least 15 guys back from the front. into the first sand section, guys flail in front of me - and the gap grows to the front. shortly thereafter in the long sand section i don't even try to ride and dismount immediately to avoid some confusion. i pass a few guys riding while i am in a sprint.




now my chase is on.



the lead group has a gap and i am in the second group. i try to to use every mountain bike skill i have to keep up speed, and i slowly break away from the second group with john p.



half way through, coming off of the pier in full speed, some fisherman decide to walk accross the course. One is walking extremely slow, the other at a standstill about 20 feet away. with me yelling, his speed does not increase but instead scares the other teenage fisherman wearing a hoodie that capped his eyes, into full flight nearly right into me. it's yet another great example of why people who are a couple apples short of a picnic shouldn't be wearing ipods or try to do two things at once in public.

soon after, i am by myself with the laps cards counting down. i catch two more riders and am now sitting in 4th with 3 laps to go.



2 laps to go and i can see steve twingey on his mountain bike, i push hard to catch him and the gap is closing, but i think he feels me coming so the gap sticks at around 10 seconds.

on the pier for the last lap, there was no hopes of catching him, i make a few more efforts up the last two little climbs, but the gap is too big. 4th place it is. matt rolls in first, mr martin in second, steve in 3rd. great race, great venue.