Was really proud of the girls and Brock who bucked up and raced in the cold, and loved it. CX has turned into quite the family thing this year, increasing the fun exponentially.
Rick Sunderlage, yes he's as fast as he looks...
Chesney finishing up...
Bob, one of only a few to brave the conditions in shorts. In fact, he rode those naked legs right into a 2nd place finish.
Adam - on his way to a strong finish in his field - one of only a few who ran most of the off camber hill succesfully. Shoe traction wasn't superior to tire traction in most of the cases and the falls were more ackward, but Adam ran in to perfection.
Top highlight of the day - watching Matt Bradley sprint up the finish of his first race back.
Eric - the tougher the conditions, the better he is - on his way to a strong finish
Brock hitting the barriers...
Annie ripping through the creek bottom...
Adam before the race - looking maybe just a little giddy to go race in the snow... think he's also one of those tougher the conditions, better he is type of racers.
Annie running the barriers, she's gotten pretty smooth on these....
Some homer that Annie sacks up with.... 
Pat - you know I have some of you - they turned out well enough that I think they deserve their own post, which is forthcoming.
OK - Some catching up on the CX races.....
UTCX #7 at Draper - Uneventful enough that I don't recall where either of us finished that week, and too lazy to look it up. Nothing spectacular to recount, but nothing bad either, except that damn hill is still beyond my fitness level.
UTCX #8 State Championship - Overtakes week #2 as debacle of the year for me. Worst effort of the year. Got a little greedy on a couple of occasions at sections of the course where I handled it wrong and ended up on my back and in a tree as a result, had some other challenges , and just rode soft overall. Punished myself by jumping in with the B's later in the day to suffer up the hill a few more times, rode about the same, and was sufficiently beat down in both races on the day. That course exploited me in a few ways that give me some good specifics to improve on, so great day in that regard - but that type of great never feels good.
Annie on the other hand rode really well, in fact, she's yet to have much of an off day. She had a podium spot just prior to the barriers on the last lap, but didn't quite have the kick left to match Shannon and finished 4th on the day - was really impressed with how she climbed, she killed the up every lap.
UTCX #9 at Wheeler - We both race in the morning so we'd missed out on some of the previous afternoon mud/rain races - this was our first crack at some good CX conditions on the course this year (Annie's first ever) which was probably 90% snow with a few patches of ice and some pavement. Race dynamics change a lot when the conditions transition from the nice fall weather and tacky courses to the less stable surfaces later in the season. Some of the stuff you work on to go faster up to this point in the year don't help a whole hell of a lot when putting a big load into the pedals is counterproductive. Being able to hammer becomes secondary to being able to handle on days like Saturday. Wasn't my best race of the year, but I rode it smart and avoided trouble - and had a pretty great time in the conditions. Makes a guy feel like a kid again, out trying to ride it right to the edge of being a little wreckless and a little out of control. There were some 50/50 spots out there, and by that I mean you could ride it correctly, and it was still gonna be 50/50 on whether you got through it upright or not. We were the first race out so the course changed a lot, from breaking trail early to having some lines carved into the snow later. Some sections got easier once packed down, some got harder - that's one of the treats of going out first, the course evolves as the race progresses.
Annie rode one of her best races of the year after getting off to a slow start. As mentioned, this was her first crack on a slick course, so she rode a little timid on her first lap. Once she got a feel for it, she rode really great and reeled all but one other racer in. Was anxious to see how she'd respond to the sketchier conditions and she settled right into it, and loved it - she's a true CX chick and has been unbelievable this year - learning some things from and about her in the process.
Last but not close to least, we had a celebrity guest appearance at the race.... none other than evilbanks. Coincidence that the women race harder when this cat's watching??? I think not.
2 comments:
I didn't see any mention of the fact that you won your race on Saturday. Nicely done. And as always, thanks for the cheers and the pics.
And nice job Annie on a solid 2nd place finish. Crazy fast.
Way to go J-Dub! Topping the podium is something to be proud of. You are much to modest. Wins need to be mentioned in blogs, that's what they are for!
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