Race Report: NCCX #5 Salisbury

Another great day to race! 75 degrees, sunny, hard, fast course. I was a little unsure of my fitness and not super-confident after a 2 week racing hiatus and just feeling kind of flat. However it seemed like a good course for me with a fast grassy start, grassy turns, 2 sets of barriers, not much mud or super-tight turns and a nice wooded section that allowed me to use my fitness to keep it rolling. Again, about 40 riders lined up for the Pro/1/2 race and some big hitters like Jon Hamblen, Will Black, Travis Livermon, and the other usual suspects showed up. However I had my secret weapon - my wife and unborn baby cheering me on!

I crashed warming up when I hit a stump in the woods which threw my rear wheel out of true, so I switched to a pit wheel, which I failed to tighten fully in my rush to get to the line! I'm sure that it was rubbing for about half the race until I figured it out and stopped to tighten it, losing about 10s. I got an OK start but again, like the first two races in the series, I ended up tailed off of the front group by just a few seconds. I clawed my way back towards 10th where I had to stop for the wheel issue, only to crash in a turn when I slid out! After that I got pissed, caught the chase group, went through them, caught Hekman and Wyatt, and ended up 9th on the day, 1
spot better than my last race.

Digging to get back after my mechanical and crash

In the next race (Hendersonville) I need to be MORE aggressive at the start as my endurance seems to be improving, and I was actually passing people on the run up (which I practiced a lot this week), where this has been a weakness in the past. Although I felt a lot better after the race and am really looking forward to the NCGP!

Check out the rest of the series here: http://www.nccyclocross.com/index.html (I'll be at the races in Hendersonville, and Winston-Salem.)

Thanks to all of our great sponsors: Industry 9, Trek, Hutchinson, Liberty Bicycles, Rudy Project, Honey Stinger, Dr. Miller, PML, Eco Concepts Realty, ABRC, Champion, Velosports, and Affordable Home Inspections