Bartlett Chicrosscup # 5

I definitely have my pre-race routine down now. Go to bed early the night before buzzing on at least 22 oz of fancy beer, wake up at 7 am but stay in bed until at least 7:45 then hurry to the race. And of course at Bartlett I forgot to pack something that I will not be forgetting for the rest of the season, my trainer.

The first lap was rough on me. A bigger than usual field had me passing through traffic left and right for a while. Although I felt good that I was moving up in the back of the field my legs were not responding as they usually do. After the first two laps I was settled in with the usuals as the legs started coming around. Having failed at a proper pre-race warmup, the initial laps had finally gotten my legs in a good fighting mood. The course had some tricky sections. The fast slightly downhill hill triple barriers hurt me every lap. I just could not carry a whole lot of momentum. Being a shorter guy I was unable to keep a good stride through all of them and would lose speed. The little climb up the hill though was fun. I managed to throw down hard a couple of times here and make up distance.

The soft slightly muddy section before entering the woods was fun too. I managed to hit some good lines and was able to power through pretty easily. When other riders would hit this section they would usually slow down. I would take a little dig in as the legs were gettin better each lap. Halfway through the race I was leading a group of racers which included Jason. Just in front of me within eyesight were Al and Zach.

Anxious to catch up to them and maybe drop any chasers I started riding hard and taking corners tight. On the return portion through the woods I hit a the last turn in the woodchips wrong and went down. I slid out and it took me longer than I would have liked to get up and running again. Of course 4 riders passed me at that point.

After the crash it was damage control to the end. I was able to move up a little but I could see that some of the riders that had passed me were riding away. Of course once I was settled in I started to get my trademark "last two laps of the race second wind". With Kirby of xXx and Kevin hot on my tail I dug deep to catch up to Patrick of team Tati in the second to last lap. I passed him and had my aim set on his teammate Daniel.

It always feels good to have a lot in the tank and use it up. My legs were not responding as well anymore. I was riding his wheel pretty close in the the last lap but I did not feel strong enough to pass or attack him. We were still pretty close on "heckle hill" but as I ran it he rode it faster than me. This had me hurrying to chase him so that I could be on his wheel for the final sprint. I managed to catch up to him right before the finishing straight. I gave it all I had in the final sprint but my legs felt like bricks. Daniel beat be by about a foots length at the finish line.

I had ridden really hard to make up for my mistakes and was pretty much out of matches for the sprint. At first I felt kind of crappy about my race. But in retrospect, if I had had a proper warmup I know that I could've been right on Zach's wheel at the end. Still looking forward to a top 30 this year. Half way through the season some of my goals have been met. Beating Chris fair and square, and gettin Al and Zach are the race goals for St. Charles. Can't wait to hurt some legs this sunday...

Bike Handling=C

Fitness=C+

Race Tactics=C