12:15 start. Whoot! I may want to start racing the Masters's Elites just for the start time. Probably not, tho.
After a night of rain and a dreary morning I had breakfast with my wife and 2 girls; nice change from the earlier starts, plus IC is less than 45 minutes away.
Got to see the end of the Cat 4 race and rooted fellow Hupster on, Gary Sterner. Also cheered Kevin Dillard on who squeeked out a photo finish. Took the long walk back to the car and got ready after depositing the pit bike in the pit. Got ready, warmed up, had a good chat with Bob Perna who parked across from me and Thor, who parked next to me.
We lined up in what was a combined Masters race although they would score us 35+, 45+, and 55+.
As the bell went off Thor, who was right in front of me, unclipped, stopping both of us. We went hard to catch up to the pack; I even passed him a bit until we made it into the turns. He passed me there, and tho I never lost sight of him, I never was able to catch him. I saw Jay Downs ahead of me and he became my "carrot". I knew I could catch him. After about 3ish laps I finally did, on the uphill barrier. I kept seeing Thor, Kevin Breckinmaker, and Perna ahead of me but I just couldn't catch them. I wound up getting lapped with maybe 1/2 lap to go, fighting off Nunzio at the finish line. Had I known it was him, I probably would've let it go since I wasn't really racing him (or Perna, for that matter). All in all, I felt pretty good. I wasn't too sure how I'd do, since I had been fighting a cold all week and really didn't sleep well the night before. 18th out of 26 starters over all; 5th out of 9 45+ racers. Closest to the podium I've ever been.
As for the course; I don't know why it is but this race doesn't get a lot of racers; it should. It's a great course with a little of everything; sand, grass, stones, fast packed dirt, hills, descents, and even a bit of single track. For any of you Mid Atlantic racers that read this. I HIGHLY recommend it, esp if you can't do the Mother of all Cross Races the next day, Iron Cross.
6 comments:
Hey fellow HUPster! Way to go, just saw the results this am and happy to see you in the mix in the top ten! Way to push it hard. I heard you yelling for me, but didnt catch you afterwards. Then had to bolt out early after race, so sorry didnt get to see you and support you this time. I finished better then i had thought(16 out of 28), but still a few places down fomr last year. I agree i dont know why riders dont come to this race, i always love this race. I am glad they had the log again, love hopping over that thing. I think there are some pics floating out there of me also of me and the log. This is the second weekend in a row with logs and gotta love the obstacles. That uphill section with the barrier sucked! The rest of the course was cool and i like the changes they did this year. Really nice, especially with the sand pit area. My pup was even cheering me on, was there with my g-friend and her pup. Saw Michael and chatted a few minutes. You going to Granogue? hope so, plan to stay there a little longer for some more afterwards fun. Take it easy and hope to see you next week. Again great job, teammate!
Thx. Can't do Granogue but I'm doing Wissahickon. Good job to you, too.
Yeah i was thinking about doing a double weekend and do Wissahickon too, but not sure yet. did you see the photos yet. there are @ 3 shots of you around the course. Just FYI. Is the wissahickon course fun, never made it to that one? Yeah I saw that Kerry combs, Dan Killingsworth, Matt Allyn, and myself are so far signed up for Granogue. Could be a HuP starred cross event. Later.
Wissahickon is one of my favorites. Victory brewing is a sponsor, so I don't need to elaborate on that :-) Sand, a death spiral, fast paved sections, and off camber stuff. Tons o fun. I saw the pics. You did what i didn't dare to do-jump the log. I was faster running it. Hope you can make it to Wissahickon. Dan for sure will be there . Some of the NE Hupsters usually do that one, too.
Now its officially cx season. Cold, rain, mud, muck, and did i say cold. I will be seeing you Sunday and Wiss as long as i dont have a major mechanical on saturday at Granogue. I will probably be cold for the next four days after 2 days of racing in this foul weather. see you there sunday.
Saw you signed up. Hopefully Wiss won't be too muddy-it's pretty high and stays fairly unmuddy. Or so I would think. 1 good thing is it will make the sizeable sand pit even easier to ride. Ya gotta look at the bright side, you know ;-)I hope to have a bettr time of it than I did at Sanders....
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