Day 1- Saturday morning I awoke to rain and checked the radar to see how long it may last. It looked like a rainy 11:00 start. I wasn't fully prepared for the rain, so warm-up was going to be wet. (skip ahead)
I heard the warning whistle and headed over to the start line. When I arrived there was already about 20+ guys lined up. I saw a opening in the second row and snuck in. The 'GO' whistle blew and we are off on 6 laps of slick very wet conditions. I get a good start and going into the first turn I'm with the leaders. The remaining of lap 1 we stay together and I come across 5th going into lap 2.
Lap 2 I am feeling good (not great) and feel I can hang with the lead group, but heading over the barriers I catch my front wheel and loose momentum. I spin around, clear the second barrier, remount, and clip in. I look up and the group has gaped me off. It's only about 5-6 seconds so I try and bridge back. By the time I start lap 3 the gap has opened up to 15 seconds. Mentally I'm loosing the will to fight, I start looking at the race behind and not getting caught for the next 3 laps. I stay in the middle and finish 6th of 30 for the day.
Day 2- I have a top 3 goal for the day and hope I don't have any mistakes. The weather is dry and sunny. The coarse is in great shape and I get in a good warm up. I hear the warning whistle, so I head to the car to loose the vest and warmers and arrive at the start line. It's even worse than yesterday. I'm in the third row behind 35 other guys. I line up on the far right side and know I have to fight for the first lap or 2. The 'GO' whistle sounds and I need to wait about ten yards before we clear the start banner before I can swing right and move down the line. Once we do I keep the power on quickly pass half the field. We hit the grass and I know I still need to quickly move up. I get by a couple more guys, but then we hit a tight 'S' section and things jam up to a stand still. I stay calm and wait for the coarse to open up again. I pass a couple more guys and set my sights on groups ahead. At the end of lap 1 I'm 13th-15th and 15 seconds off the leaders.
Laps 2-5 are spent chasing and never looking behind. I didn't want to settle for where I was. I wanted to put it all on the table and see what happens. I stood and attacked out of corners and on hills. Going down the Start / Finish straight I tucked low and bury myself. It was working! I could see the lead group of 3 coming back. They where playing tactics and by the middle of lap 5 I was back on the train.
Lap 6 & 7- On lap 6 I just sat on to recover and watch the other riders. I was seeing who looked strong when and where. I liked my chances and was planning my attack for the final lap. I moved up to second wheel for the beginning of the bell lap and decided to attack early. When the coarse turned uphill I went. It would be 5 minutes all out! Could I make it stick? I got the jump and was now leading. Even though there where u-turn sections I wasn't sure what the gap was or how many where behind. I had tunnel vision and only new someone was there because of noise and cheering. Coming into the last barriers Ryan made the pass. He got about a bike length on me and put the hammer down. I didn't loose ground, but wasn't gaining. Through the last set of curves before we hit the asphalt straight. Ryan stands and launches his sprint and I follow. After 10-15 revolutions I knew I was beat. He held his lead to win by less than 2 seconds. Congratulations Ryan, what a great race.
I learned a lot this weekend about cyclocross and myself. I am happy overall with the results and am going to plan and train smarter.
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