Saturday's race course was grassy, bumpy, tacky, but fast, and included some paved trails, a SWEET flyover, some side-hill turns, a telephone pole laying in the course, and some high barriers. No big hills, but a power-man's course that was made all the more so by the wind the preceded the cold front that was coming in. After a second row start and a lot of jockeying during the first lap, I was able to move into the main group after about 2 laps. Just as I did so, Will Black and Eric Wondergem attacked and headed up the "road". The rest of us (4: myself, Noah Niwinski, Eric Marslender, Justin Crawford) consolidated over the next couple of laps as we traded pulls and attacks but tended to be equally matched. I had fun with the course as the open nature suited my skillset, the flyover was just a blast, and the turns were challenging but manageable for me.
The last half of the race turned into a fairly standard cat and mouse with everyone putting in a dig but being brought back into the fold as we watched Eric and Will build their gap. With one lap to go Noah attacked and kept his gap to the finish. I struggled to keep the pace at this point as my gear housing had frayed and I was limited to only 3 gears during the race. I ended up 6th, well in the money and felt good considering I have just started my cyclocross build for the year.
| 2 | Eric Wondergem | 165681 | Hup United/pf bikes | 1 |
| 21 | Will Black | 58540 | Inland Construction | 2 |
| 13 | Noah Metzler | 230698 | Team Globalbike | 3 |
| 7 | Justin Crawford | 271187 | Virginia Polytechnic University | 4 |
| 8 | Eric Marland | 91085 | Boone Velo | 5 |
| 26 | Christopher Larsen | 70660 | Team A.C.E. | 6 |
| 4 | Joshua Whitmore | 38071 | Team Globalbike | 7 |
| 22 | Mike Stewart | 210874 | MSG Cyclocross | 8 |
| 25 | Noah Niwinski | 236341 | Team Ville | 9 |
| 11 | Matthew Willing |
Sunday's course was the same as Saturday's, but a little wet and less windy, which made it faster all around. That, combine with the addition of Eric Muehl (thankfully my teammate) and Nate Wyatt made the racing fast from the gun! We started halfway around the course so that it allowed more jockeying for position before the (sweet) flyover and more safety. Almost immediately the field strung out as Will Black, Nate, Eric Muehl, and Eric Wondergem hit the front. I ended up in the chase group for the second day as we chased the rest of the race. Fortunately after starting in about 10th I was able to steadily move up as my legs started to gather themselves beneath me. While I had less snap than I did on Saturday, I was smoother throughout the course and was able to make up time on the long, straights. Unfortunately I was losing time over the barriers and through the super-tight turns.
My position allowed me a front row seat to watch the front group battle it out, and I was able to pick off guys steadily through the race, until ending up in a group of 4 chasers. I eventually attacked the group of the flyover (which I love) and was able to put about 15s into the group. I maintained the gap all the way until about 1.5 laps to go when I clipped the barriers with my rear wheel and dropped my chain, causing me to lose about 10s and a lot of momentum. Noah Metzler (who beat me Saturday as well!) caught and passed me during this time and pushed me back into 6th . . . where I would finish for the second day in a row. However I felt that this was a "win" for me as the race was faster and more competitive and I definitely felt that I improved over Saturday's race. I need to keep working on the technical bits (and continue my training plan) and I know that not only will I get smoother, but I will get stronger as the season goes on - just like last year!
| 21 | Will Black | 58540 | Inland Construction | 1 |
| 30 | Nathanael Wyatt | 127000 | Carolina Fatz pb Santa Cruz Bicycles | 2 |
| 29 | Eric Muehl | 246666 | Team A.C.E. | 3 |
| 2 | Eric Wondergem | 165681 | Hup United/pf bikes | 4 |
| 13 | Noah Metzler | 230698 | Team Globalbike | 5 |
| 26 | Christopher Larsen | 70660 | Team A.C.E. | 6 |
| 22 | Mike Stewart | 210874 | MSG Cyclocross | 7 |
| 11 | Matthew Willing | 284687 | Mars Hill College | 8 |
| 7 | Justin Crawford | 271187 | Virginia Polytechnic University | 9 |
| 18 | Gary Yates | 142195 | Unattached | 10 |
Check out pictures here: www.bart.ifp3.com/
Thanks to all of our sponsors: Highland Brewing, Trek & Bontrager, Liberty Bikes, Rudy Project, PML Pathology, Mosaic Realty, Honey Stinger, Swiftwick, Carmichael Training Systems, Dr. Steve Miller DDS
No comments:
Post a Comment