Today was day 2 (day 1 for me) of Vets Park in Ann Arbor and I had some questions going into the race. Would missing yesterday have a negative affect on me? Would I be flat or rested? Would coming home at 2 am from my neighbor's Halloween party and getting up with the kids at 7 am hurt? The short answer to all these questions is NO. I wasn't 100%, but the 85 or so was.
I arrived in plenty of time and was able to have about 20 minutes of warm up. It mainly consisted of riding the coarse and putting in a few attacks. To the start line and get positioned in the second row. Going into the first left hander I'm in 4th or 5th and feeling a bit nervous. I don't feel great and my thighs feel like their loading up. I settle in and choose a lighter gear to try and spin them out. I hold 5th position for half a lab before I make my first pass. The next pass comes shortly after through the first set of barriers and now I'm sitting 3rd, marking Brian and Mark. We ride together for half of lap 2 until we reach the short uphill, past the first set of barriers. On the climb Brian slows and Mark starts pulling away, so I pass Brian and close up to Mark. Mark leads into the second set of barriers, but has trouble remounting and clipping in. I hesitate for a second then realize now is the time to attack. I stand and put in an effort for almost the whole third lap and it paid off. By the end of lap 3 I have a 15 second lead.
My plan for laps 4 and 5 was to keep the pressure on and build the gap. My lap times were 5:58.7 and 5:58.8. I gained another 17 seconds.
On laps 6 and 7 I could see that I was holding my lead so I was able to back it off a bit. I crossed the line with my 2nd CX win and 1st of the series. I was very happy with today's result and thank everyone who cheered me on and congratulated me.
Congratulations to my teammates Keith and Clint for their strong races and too J Osgood for his strong weekend. I'm looking forward to racing with you soon.
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