CX, hotter than...ICE?

I know I haven't contributed much to the blog these days, but it's been even longer since I've slipped around in a good ole muddy cross race. Come to think of it, it's been like four years!

Needless to say, the butterflies were flying around my stomach like crazy before Saturday night's Starcrossed race. I hadn't don a bike race of any kind in about six weeks, I was jumping in with some serious heavy hitters on an incredibly slippery track. When the gun went off, I began a rapid, yet very brief round of maneuvering through the pack with ease. I was passing riders left and right, including a world cup winner who had crashed.

My super powers lasted about 1/2 of a lap, gravity reaffirmed itself, and I was on my back, sliding through the mud in front of thousands of fans. Not a huge deal, but as I went to hop on Doug's bike (I always like racing on Douggie's bikes, not sure why), the bars and shifter were all crooked. A brief tweak got me going again, albeit a little sideways. Saturday's course was way too slippery, fast and technical for the working man, super powers were needed equip. I was pulled with 17 minutes to go for 34th place.

The champion of France however, could have been sipping a Bordeaux as he waited for the finishing stretch to show "The Treefarm" how to execute a world class sprint.

Sunday I felt a little better, and was more at ease in the daytime at a super cool Rad Racing GP (first time presented by Hammer Nutrition!!!) It's never easy starting in last, but I always try to remember that at one time, every pro started towards the back. The track was quite fun with several off camber, rooty, greasy corners and two long sand crossings. I was moving through the ranks until the last fifteen minutes when I believe I was carrying around 8 pounds of excess mud. Apparently all elite racers have two bikes except me, oh wait I have zero :( So I wound up 25th, which was a pb for me (Pippo's best). I'm super pumped for cross, especially the THUNDER!!!! Here's a vid of the start, you can see my big butt sliding around the corner near the end of the peloton.



Let the Thunder Roll!

Pip