Well, time for my quarterly update. My job in Kansas City is finally history. I thought I would give KC a try, but it just wasn't for me. It was great for commuting, but eventually making it a permenant home was just not appealing to me. I then thought I may be going to Colorado Springs when my company put in a few openings, but as luck would have it they seem to have put it on hold. My girlfriend and I were pretty disappointed about that one. My second choice, and propably the smart choice was to head back to Chicago. I was able to transfer back and should be up there within the week. I was a litte apprehensive when I originally transfered to KC anyways, so I'm lucky it worked out and I can head back.
Time to get to the racing. I had a pretty successful cross season last year eventually placing 2nd, right behind Denny, in the masters field at the State Championships. The start of the cross season hasn't exactly been ideal for me. The Pride series races over in Alton only had one Saturday race which was disappointing for me. Last year I was able to go right from the road season and right into cross. This year I haven't been able to race the road as much, having a wedding to go to, and the lack of Saturday races has really put me behind the eight ball. To really put salt in the wounds KC's cross season finally started yesterday, but I had just packed up and moved out of my apartment the day before and headed back to St. Louis. Luckily the Pride series had there one and only Saturday race yesterday.
I had to take my nephew to his soccer game in the morning so I was only able to make either the Masters or Open race. With the lack of racing in my legs I decided the Masters race would better suit me. I was short on time and still had to do a lot of work on my cross bike, which I hadn't touched since the State race last year. I got to the race about a half hour before the start and still had to adjust my brakes, change tires, change, and register. I got that all done, and still got a one lap warm up in.
We lined it up behing the Open field and they started us 30 seconds later. I didn't have my Garmin mount and my Dogfish skinsuit had no pockets. My only choice was to throw it in my skinsuit and I figured it needed to be on my back to recieve the satellites....not the best choice. I was able to get the holeshot, I didn't really even try too hard, but managed to be first. I had to look back because I was sure everyone was breathing down my back. They weren't. With my lack of racing I started to wonder if I started out too hard and if I'd hit a wall. Right about that time I got passed and looked back and saw my teammate Berndt with his crosshairs on me. I just kept trucking along. Remember that GPS I threw in my skinsuit? Well, not so much, eventually it worked it's way down and after dismounting to go over the barrier it ended up in my butt and I was sitting on it. It must've been a sight to see as I was digging it out of my ass. I never wanted to stop so I eventually did work it to the top of my leg. Berndt eventually did pass me. I stayed with him for a bit before he pulled away. Now I was in third with several guys clawing to catch me. I picked up my pace and just kept Berndt within striking distance. That worked out because the guys behind me finally faded and I had a sizeable gap and was assured a podium so long as I kept it upright and didn't have a mechanical. I even started closing in on my teammate. I don't think he finished more then 20 seconds ahead of me. It was a good Dogfish 2-3 finish.
Next weekend I plan to be in Chicago for the Cross Cup series.
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