Two'fer cross weekend.....

Another two race weekend. Saturdays race was at the Concordia Seminary where I took third last year in my only bubba race, and Sundays race was in my backyard at Creve Coeur Park. I really needed to get some points this weekend after the fiasco last week when I forgot my shoes and had to drive home and try to make the B race. I missed the start by about two minutes. I ended up just doing the A race, which wasn't bad. I ended up 13th out of 18 racers. I did beat Denny though, my nemesis from crossresults.

The Concordia course was set up similar to last years, which was a good thing, technical and fast. I finally got my spare bike built up and was able to get it in the pits. It's actualy nicer then my regular bike. I was able to get a partial lap in for my warm-up. I had a decent spot in the first row. There were 32 starters for this one. From the start I was able to get a good jump. I tried not to start out too hard, but definetly wanted to be in a good position before the tree section and definetly before the log obstacle. I figured too far back and I'd get caught up in traffic. I was third going into the woods. There was one guy I tangled with a bit, I tried to squeeze by and he shut me down. I was finally able to pass him a bit later. I can't remember if I was first over the log, but by the time I got back to the start/finish line I had the lead. I think I had a pretty good gap with only a few guys in the chase. I was eventually caught by Peter J, and SS Peat with Patrick G not too far behind. We were making good ground and Peat took over the pacemaking on his singlespeed. I knew Peat had just raced and thought he might fade so there was no sense in taking the lead. Peat was struggling up the slight incline after the log all day and Peter decided to hammer it and we eventually dropped him.

It was a two man race after that. I had the luxury earlier in the race to follow Peat's line outside the staircase while Peter was in the lead. On the last lap I took the outside line while Peter ran up the staircase. It gave me just enough time to get out in front and put a small gap on him. I didn't even think of it being illegal at the time. There was no tape and several other people were taking that line. I just thought of it as being another risk vs. reward obstacle. There was a post that was situated to the right that really could've created havoc if you got your bar caught on it. From a strategic standpoint, Peter didn't have the advantage of watching Peat take that line. I don't know if it was because of this scenario, but apparently there was a thread started on the stlbiking messageboard about people taking that line, http://stlbiking.com/forum/index.php/topic/29086-riding-around-obstacles/. In any case, I stand by the line I took. I put a small gap on him, but I knew I had to work because he was just a bit faster then me on the slight incline after the log. When I remounted after the last staircase he was right behind me through the twist and turns. One bobble and he'd pass me. We came out of the trees and I sprinted the last 200 meters to the finish. I waited for him to come around, but he never did.

I've had a few seconds and thirds in road, mt. bike, and cross, but my first victory since my xc mt. biking days in the mid 90's. As much as I enjoyed that win I think Denny was actually happier then I was.

It was back to work on Sunday to try and get back those points for the overall. After checking out the points, it looks like it may be an uphill battle with the amount of races left. It was nice having this race in my backyard, but the course setup did not suit me at all. It was mostly flat and not too technical. Before the race I saw teammate Dwayne G. It was his first cross race. He asked for a bit of advice, but honestly what could I tell an off-road superstar that he doesn't already know. I just told him to treat it like a mt. bike race and he'd do fine. I got a couple practice laps in and knew it would be a tough course for me. We lined it up and from the start I was out in front for the first two laps. As we started the third lap I had Mark H and Dwayne behind me. I didn't want to lead this race and blow myself up so I let dwayne and mark go. Dwayne really poured it on as he passed and soon he and Mark had a gap. Matt D eventually caught me and I pulled him for a few laps before I decided I shouldn't be doing all the work. He took over and we soon caught and passed Mark, but still had a contingency of riders just behind us. I soon fell off Matts pace and was caught by Peter, Mark, and I think Patrick. I still kept the lead throughout the last lap half heartedly thought I could make it stick. Pete made a well timed pass at the end to get in front of me. He had the jump on me on the last turn and we sprinted for third. He won. Teammate Dwayne showed his ability by walking away from the rest of us to take the win by a decent margin. Great job Dwayne.

Next up is Pleasant Hill Winery.