'Cross + Snow = Versluis Snowcross

And Versluis Snowcross = Awesomeness!!!

I've never been one for symmetry, but today put a nice cap on the cyclocross season. I started the cyclocross season in September with the KissCross Kickoff ride, and today I ended with another KissCross event, the Versluis Snowcross.

Hosted on Nate and Sheri Versluis' Apple Orchards in Grand Rapids, MI, and promoted by Mr. and Mrs. KissCross Rick and Cathy Plite, the Versluis Snowcross has been bringing good folks together for good racin', good food, and good beer for the past 4 or 5 years.

Up at 6am and on the road by 7am, I made it to the race course in plenty of time to get dressed and get in a pre-lap. Nate plowed about 1.5 miles of an undulating, somewhat technical course that snaked around the slumbering apple trees. More important, however, were the parts he DIDN'T plow. He left the 10 feet before, and roughly 20 feet after each barrier unplowed. I tell ya, if I learned anything this season its that I DO NOT like running in snow!!! Otherwise the course was nicely frozen with a light layer of snow in spots. 3 barriers if I recall, plus a pretty nasty uphill that was rideable, but some chose to run it. There was a nice line right down the middle most of the way, get out of that line, however, and you could be in trouble, as I found out on lap one.

The race went off a little after noon, as we waited for Paula to make it in from Detroit. Something about almost burning down her apartment. Gosh, I hope her land lord doesn't read this.. :P lol

We started on the pavement out of Nate and Sheri's driveway, so I was able to start fast and jump on the leader's wheel for a little leadout for the first lap. Into the first downhill I got a little out of the line, and almost paid the price. I'm pretty sure I was squealing like a little girl as I fought to keep the rubber down. Disaster avoided (for now!). My leadout was becoming a little bit of an anchor, so I tried but failed to pass on the run after the Sadistic Snow Runnup (SSR). I tucked in behind for a fast downhill to a sharp, off-camber lefty. As we rounded the corner we were caught by two guys on mountain bikes. Plying their sizable advantage with the fat knobs, they got passed us rather easily on the off-camber, deep section on the back of the course. Shortly after I passed the crosser in front of me as he got bogged down. The final "straight" before the finish was a snow rutted mess. I picked what appeared to be the best line on the right. The snow belied the washboarded terrain below. Bump-bump-bumpity-bump.... the trail goes straight, my wheel goes dead right! 10 feet off the course into 2 foot deep pow-pow. Finished making snow angels, I snowshoed my way back to the course. I pushed to get my momentum back, but got passed back on the uphill. With that lap out of the way, I got my confidence and stuck to my lines. I passed the crosser in front of me again, but got passed by another rider or two, and lord knows where those mountain bikers went.

The race was set for 3 laps. I was tempted to jump in with the "A" race to do 6 laps, but after two laps of icy hell, I was pretty sure that I wouldn't have survived 6. On my third lap I ran into quite a bit of lapped "A" traffic, and some others. One more time up the SSR, I dug deep and passed 4 riders on the run. Back on the solid ground, I dropped the hammer (I've never been so happy to have gears!!) and tried to put some space on my chasers. Not normally sure footed in the snow, I kept my bum off the snow, and once again found myself headed down that final straight to the finish. With a couple guys in hot pursuit, I picked the high line this time and kept my feet turning. Made it through clean, and came across the line Third! At first I was in shock. I was sure I miscounted and finished too soon. I was only getting warmed up. Wish I'd gone with the "A"'s :(

The best part of KissCross (well, OK, the beer is really the best part) is that you carry a tag with your name on it, count your own laps, and stick your tag on a spike at the end to mark your finish. Keep It Simple Stupid! A Sixer of Founder's goes to the winner, and other prizes to random finishers determined before the start. Today, 10th place took home a jug of Heed from Hammer Nutrition, and last place got a bottle of Hammer Gel. I love it!

I look forward to the start of 'Cross season next year, but even more I look forward to kicking it off with KissCross!!

Illinois State 'Cross Championships or Good Things Come in 3's!

FUN!!

Man, I feel gyped..
all the rest of 'cross season was hot, dry, and bland. :( Today was none of those things!

It was a tad warmer than yesterday.. about 33 degrees at race time. After an awesome pancake breakfast at Rachel's, I headed back home to get ready. I decided to ride to the race instead of bring the car. With the right timing, I should get there warmed up, ready to register and get on the course for a quick warmup.

I think I've said it before, but I think I'm really zeroing in on how to dress for the cold. I was a little chilly starting out for the race, but warmed up pretty quickly, without overheating or sweating too much. That is a huge load of my mind. But, once the race started, I can tell you that the cold was the last thing on my mind!

I got there and registered. I tried to get out on the course for a pre-lap, but it seems they were running behind. At 2pm they were calling for 2 more laps for the 1/2s.. So I planned on taking a lap when they called the 4's to line up. We're usually standing there for 10-15 minutes anyway. Well, that wasn't to be either. When they finally did call us up, they went right into the race intro. Looks like I'm doin this one cold (so to speak).

So they blow the whistle and we're off. I'm sitting near the back of the pack of about 40 riders again. With the snow, mud, and ice, I would like to have been out front, but figured where ever I was, I had to watch for other people stacking it up. It was messy for the first 1/4 mile. A short starting straight led to a series of tight turns. People where hitting the brakes all over the place. One guy behind my got the right idea and ran the whole section the first time through.

This led to "cricket hill" as I've heard it called. A 2 pack of barriers led to a long b***h of a run-up. We mounted back up to ride down the back side of the hill in about 5-6 inches of deep loose snow. At the bottom, the first sucker punch. A 180 turn with a barrier immediately after the turn into another nasty long run-up.


Again, back on the bike to a sweet long snowy downhill. Shortly we reached the most technical part of the course. Several tight, back and fourth esses climbing up and down the hills either side of one of the bridges in the park. A somewhat technical descent to a loose lefty under the bridge, then sucker-punch #2.. another quickly lefty RIGHT into a barricade.. damn, didn't see that coming. A quick run-up, more esses, then back down on the other side of the bridge and under again. From here, it was mostly flat, a chance to pick up some speed, with some not too terrible turns. Then I spot a cool little 20ft. down-up. This should be fun. I hammer the peddles to get up some speed, and BAM! Sucker-punch #3. Some sadistic so and so put a barrier RIGHT AT THE TOP OF THE HILL!! I could really have used some practice on this one.. It took a good two laps to figure it out since you had to pick up enough speed on the downhill to coast the last part of the uphill while dismounting. Not easy. The last bit into the start/finish was not too bad, save for several branches that seemed to want to reach out and slap you off the bike. There were lots of spectators in the start/finish, making it easy to drop several gears and hammer through, aided by the fact that this was the only solid, non-muddy footing on the whole course! Ultimately my strategy of keeping the rubber side down served me well. I heard several people bite it behind me, and saw at least two go down in front of me. I stayed up and picked up places.

Man, that was fun! I wish there were more like it. I kinda wish I had done the Masters race. But, alas. There's always next year.

Thanks to Thomas and Katie for coming out and being an AWESOME cheering section! And for taking pictures. You can see all of Tom's pics from the race at slackphotography.blogspot.com. He's an awesome photographer! More of his work is at www.slackphotography.com.

Good night!

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Now playing: Gotan Project - Track 04
via FoxyTunes

Lan Oaks

Chicago Cross Cup series race #5 took us to Lansing, IL and Lan Oaks park.

Brrrr... finally winter starts to settle in, and the weather is getting more 'cross-like. Temps in the low 40s, but still dry.

This was a roadies course if ever there was one. Flat, flat, and more flat. Wide turns require minimal cornering skill, and onle two sets of barriers. And a looooon, deep sand pit, but even it was ridable with enough speed.

Again I raced Masters and Cat4. I used the Masters race as a good warm up and familierization session. 10 minutes into this race and I was ready to drop out. I just didn't have it in the legs, and as this was an all out leg-fest, I feard I'd having noting at all for my second race. But I stuck with it, found a gear that worked, and just worked on smooth barriers, and even worked a little on working with other riders. This is a skill that i MUST foster if I want to have any success in cross. I finished near the back in 19th, but that's about the effort I gave.

The Cat4a race again saw 40+ racers at the start line. And as usual they lined up with 15 minutes to go, refusing to give up a front row position. And this time, I was one of the lucky ones on the front who wasn't gonna budge!

At the start we were bunched pretty good, and there was a lot of jostling for position. This is where I usually play it safe and passive, and lost lots of places right off the bat. But this time I stuck with it, and was sitting 5th going into the first turn. From this point on the goal was to grab a wheel and try and hold it as long as possible. Aggressive in the first lap at all costs. "You're not gonna blow up" I kept telling myself. I did get dropped by a number of riders up front, but then settled into a battle with about 3 riders for the second half of the race.

I was forced to run the sand pit each lap, as there was always too much traffic in front of me to reliably be able to blast through. This was ok, though, as I didn't lose any ground to the guys that were riding it. I put in a few good attachs in the straights after the pit, and even dropped a couple guys. In the end I finished up around 15th. Alas the folks who put on the race seem to have lost any record of me, as I don't appear in the final standings. I was too busy changing and getting warm to be able to get over to check the prelim results, and the final results were not posted when I left. I never worry about a place here or there b/c I'm never in contention, but I never expected to be left out of the results altogether. If any of the 4a's out there are reading, and you finished in front of or behind the guy with the black XXX jacket with Orange Sweep XC helmet and blue Raliegh, please let me know what place you were so I can figure out where I finished. I know it was around 15-17...

Anyway, I'm back in MI for Thanksgiving. Good times. Gonna hit the KissCross race at Richmond Park in Grand Rapids, MI on the way home. Looking forward for a different paced event from the ChiCross Cup races. I'll be sure to tell you all about it.

Gotta run, almost out of Juice!!

Iceman 2007

Another one is in the books!

The driving is done, the clothes are in the wash, the bike is caked with dirt, the pictures have been taken, and the beers (oh so many beers) have been drunked!

Iceman 2007 goes down as one of my favorite. There were some notible people missing from the party this year, and tho I missed you guys, it was still a great time! I turned in my best Iceman performance yet, and pretty happy with my ride.

After a minor snafu that lead us to have to drive to the finish to pick up some items left in the "finish line car" (it doesn't matter how much you plan....) we arrived at the start with about 35 minutes to get ready for the SS start. It was in the low 40's at race time. After stripping down to jersey, shorts, and knee and arm warmers, I was feeling pretty good. Then I started moving.. Brrrrrr!! the wind wipped right through my single layer.. So i proceded to warm up up and down the main road alongside the school that serves as the start of the race. I ran into Paula and did another out and back with her, being careful to get back to the start in time to stage with the SSers, and try to get a spot at the front! True to form this year, I was stuck farther back than I wanted, but still in the top 3rd.

After some creative maneuvering (pimping) at the gun, I was able to get around some slower traffic, and to the outside where I prefer. I passed Amanda just as we came to the left turn at the fence that marks the end of the initial leadout. Just before the road I passed Danielle and wished her well. She is crazy fast, and I knew this would not be the last time I'd see her. What I didn't know was that She'd pass me back within the first mile.

My goals for the race: 1) Be aggressive at the start for at least the first mile. 2) Sub 2:00 time. 3) Top 20 finish.

Upon seeing Danielle pass me back so soon, my heart sank a little. Then I realized meeting goal #1 didn't mean I had to beat the world in the first mile, but rather how I dealt with situations like this. So I jumped on her wheel and we trucked through some traffic. I had thought to ask if she wanted to work together during the race, but then it occurred to me that would require that I get up front and do some work keeping the same pace, and at the moment I had my hands full keeping her wheel!!

Eventually, I was able to pass back on a climb, but she was able to get on my wheel. This would continue for some time into the first bit of single track. As usual, the single track was a backed up mess, and as Danielle was pondering if we ride or run the tricking, rooted uphill turn, the train in front of us stopped. So off we went. I shouldered my bike and hoofed it up quickly, around some slower riders. At the top I managed a pretty respectable CX mount, and away I went.

The majority of the middle of the race was unnotable, except that I felt better than ever this year! The conditions were AMAZING, and somehow my body was up to the task! Some fond memories: Passing/getting passed by Cat and Craig several times, yet never getting my ass slap in. The afformentioned Cat and Craig leading a train of bikes down the long downhill dirt road, Cat "choo-chooing" as they blazed by! NONE of the sand pits presenting a serious problem. Williamsburg road, always a blast! Making all but one climb at 58.5 gear inches.. Time to move up next year!

I was amazed at how well I felt at Williamsburg road. There were 3 SSers I was battling with all day. An orange Ionic, a White Gary Fisher (rig?), and another guy in a white jersy (728?) I think I had the advantage on most climbs, but was a little two passive on the flats. I think I saved a little too much in the last 5 miles as i believe they all bested me. With 5 miles to go I tried to get back into aggressive mode, but I just couldn't convice myself that the worst was over and I could cut loose. It was until 2 to go that I decided whatever was left I could handle. By then, however, we started to get back into the single track sections that made passing difficult. I could see the Ionic slip away as I was stuck behind to slow "experts" in the single track. Next year perhaps I'll study the course better.

The finishing kilometer at Timber Ridge was excellent this year. They still got you close to where you could hear the crowds from far out, but once you got to the campground, with the exception of one small section through some trees, it was fast and furious to the finish. Many warned of the grass to gravel to pavement turn at the end, but I had no trouble negotiating any of the final chute. JHK wasn't so lucky..



As I rolled accross the finish, I saw 11:51:35 on the clock. I started to pump my fist in the air, and then some mental math set in.. 2:01:36 was my time... So close, yet so far. And to add insult to injury, once the results were posted, it showed that 1:59.59 would have been good for 19th. Oh well. I had an amazing race. About as good as O2S early in the year. And the after race festivities were amazing as usual.. I huge shoutout to the Dark Horse Mt. Bike team and the Bells Brewery/Quiring Cycles Mt Bike team for hosting awesome awesome parties. Also a shout out to Cathy and Jason for serving up some awesome post-race stew.. :D



Can't wait till next year!!!

I should so be going to bed to prepare for the long drive to Traverse City tomorrow for the Iceman Cometh!! But I figure I better finish off my last race report to make room for the tails of drunken debauchery that is Iceman weekend!

When we left our hero he was recovering from his Masters 30+ race, awaiting the start of the Cat 4s several hours later. It was about now that I was beginning to curse my decision to not bring any real food. It would have to be Hammer Gel and Clif bars for lunch to sustain me through another 30 minutes of hell.. I mean super fun racing!!

There's not a whole lot to report from the Cat 4 race. I yet again failed to get myself a spot on the front row.. This is partly due to the fact that the guys insist on lining up with 20 minutes to go. I mean c'mon fellas... I got a good start, and gave a little more in the first part of this race, but soon found myself in no mans land again. The course had dried and traction was awesome. The off camber section was a non issue with the extra traction, AND they had lowered the middle stake, so you could take a pretty straight line all the way through. My nemisis straightaway also was tamed by the line burned into the grass.

I was riding more in the big ring this race as there was nothing to save my legs for, and there was little on the course requiring the small ring. I was still having trouble getting up the hill, but as the race went on I badgered the little girl in me to "dig damnit" and get up that hill faster.

With two laps to go I was passed by a xXx'er.. I'm not sure if I was lapped, or if he just got a second wind. Either way, he helped to pull me up to the racer in front of me. At first I assumed that this fellow had popped and was coming back to me. I kicked it up a little to assure that I would go by with athoritah! However, I made and ass out of u and me. There was life in this gent yet. As soon as he heard me breathing (well, weazing really) down his neck, he responded. We went back and fourth like this for the whole lap. At the beginning of the last lap I knew i would have a chance on the climb. I dug deep, and decide that I would pay whatever price at the top to try and pass him on the climb. I came up a littel short, but by the top I was on his rear wheel. Payback meant giving up a little ground on the ensuing flat, but I kept the pressure on. I recalled that he coasted the second half of the long down hills straight just before the woods, so I kept it in the big ring and gapped back up to him just as we entered the woods. He responded again getting a couple bike lengths. After the woods, just one barrier stood between us and the line. I knew if I could get even with him at the barrier I would have a good chance to make time and possibly out sprint him to the line. It was a downhill approach to the barrier and I'd been taking it increasingly faster each lap. But now I was all out sprinting! As we approached, I second guessed myself and backed off just a bit to make sure I cleaned the barrier. Indeed I was faster on the dismount/mount and got back a length. With just 20 yards to the finish I gave all I had, but just couldn't nip him at the line.. :( I regret not going all out into the barrier. Even a spectacular yard sale would have made a better ending to the story. But I did go for the win. I think even a better gear on the re-mount might have given me the edge I need. So good lessons learned.

This weekend it's Iceman. The weather is looking like it'll be cold, but no snow. Another shot at breaking 2 hours. As this might be my last Iceman for a while, that sure would be neat-o.

See ya on the other side.

Lessons Learned

These are some things I learned this weekend at Campton park:

1) Dew + Grass = Slippery
2) When you can see your rear wheel in front of you and you're still riding your bike, something's not right. Oh, and look out cuz here comes the ground!
3) If one race is fun, 2 is TWICE as fun!
4) OH MY GOD do I need some hill work.. :(

Chicago 'Cross Cup series race #4 took us to Campton park in St. Charles, IL. I chose to race both the Masters 30+ race and the Cat. 4a this week in an attempt to increase my learning curve.

I was also looking forward to racing in the morning, rather than sitting around all day until the Cat. 4 race at 2pm. I arrived just in time to change, register, and get in a slow preview lap of the course. This one was pretty rowdy.

A not too long starting straight leads to a 180 degree tight corner. Lotsa fun in a 40+ person starting field! Some nice S curves lead to the first double barrier. This is followed by another quick left/right and a ditch that was ridable, but just barely. Into a long straight and the biggest pain of the course, a barrier at the base of the longest climb of the course. Not particularly steep, but with all momentum sapped by the barrier, it was formidable.
The back half of the course was wonderful respite from the "technical" first half. Despite an off camber down-up-down-up, this section was fast. Long straights broken only by the afformentioned off camber and a short steep climb.
The final straight leads to a path through the woods that was a little greasy, and had rail road ties set in the ground perpendicular to the path for water run-off. These were easy to bunny hop and exit the path fast to a short grassy downhill into the final barrier which could be taken with good speed only about 20 yard from the finish line.


About 20 lined up for the Masters 30+ race. My plan for this race was to try to hang on to the back and just get a feel for the course and practie my dismount/mount. The start got off clean and I was sitting mid-pack. Into the climb I'm passed by a few on the way up. On the back half there's a long downhill straight to 90 degree left hand turn. I came in hot and tapped the brakes as I leaned into the turn. SEE LESSON #1. Suddenly I'm Brandon Inge slidding into 3rd! Luckily there was a spectator there to spur me on to get back on the bike and go go GO!! Lap 2 and I'm pretty much in no man's land. I press on working on my barrier technique, and using my gears to save my legs.
Now on the back half, this time entering the straight that took me out in the first lap, again coming in HOT! I tap the rear brake to scrub some speed... SEE LESSON #2. Luckily I went down on my right this time, balancing out the bumps and bruises. The rest of the race went without incident. Well, besides being 10 minutes longer than I had expected. Ugh...

I'll report my Cat. 4 race in a separte entry.. We'll just let this one set in.. :D

Carpentersville Cross

Today was the second race in the Chicago Cross Cup series at Carpenter Park in Carpentersville, IL. Incidentally, I ran into someone who also rides a Raleigh Rx1.0. He said it's made in Carpentersville, though I've yet to confirm it.

I'll try to be breif, as I know I can get a bit windy here.

It was yet another unseasonably dry and warm day for a 'cross race. The course was mostly flat though there were a number of false flats, and not much room to stretch the legs. Obstacles included a double barrier leading to a run-up, a barrier followed by a small dried culvert you had to jump (repeated again later in the course)
and about 30-40 feet of playground sandbox. In warmups I both ran and rode the sand, but opted to run it in the race. What made the sand partiularly tricky was a 6" drop into the sand, making it difficult to pedal strong into the sand. Rather, to prevent endoing, you had to lift the front and drop into the sand, losing precious momentumum.



Only about 45 on the line for the 4a's this week. Despite the reduced numbers, I still failed to get a spot on the front line. I lined up on the second row in the middle, making it very difficult to get free at the start. I settled into the pack about 30 back. The first two laps were uneventful, save for the searing pain in my legs. Beginnig lap three, before the first set of barriers is a paved straight with a sharp left turn at the end. I hear a racer come up on the inside of the turn fast. I'm thinking, how the hell is this guy gonna make the turn coming this fast and on the inside of the turn! Well, the answer is, he wasn't. I later learned he thought it was a RIGHT hand turn.. :( So, when I turned left into the turn, hoping he would hold his line, I ended up running smack into his rear wheel. I went down, and he made it through more or less ok... At least I was able to launch off the bike as I went down to land on the grass and not the pavement..



I remounted and tried to pedal away. My saddle was severly skewed to the right, so I stopped and corrected. However, upon remounting, something still wasn't right. I thought my bars had turned too, but luckily it was just a shifter turned a little out of wack. I tried to straighten in, but to no avail. It was so weird to me to be standing on the course of a cyclocross race. I've come to know CX as an all out sprint to the end, and even though you do get off the bike from time to time, you're NEVER standing still. And yet, here I was. It was not a good feeling.

Getting back into the rhythm was tough, and I don't think I ever quite got it back. I reeled back a couple of lost places, and managed to hold off a late attack by a couple of guys who had been working together most of the race. I ended up 17th of 45. A ways off of my top 10 a couple weeks ago, but considering the cirumstances, I guess I can't complain.



All in all, a good day. Got to hang with some new friends and make newer ones! And I manage to snap a few pics in the process. Good times all around.



Someday there'll be snow...

Soup

Jackson Park CX Vid

The above is a quick clip of me clearing the second barrier on my second lap. It is also my first ever youtube video.. yay me...

'Cross eyed

The day finally arrived. My maiden 'cross race! Race #1 in the Chicago Cross Cup series. It's kind of sad that I've been waiting on this day almost like Christmas, but then it does sort of signify the start of my local racing career here in Chicago, so I guess it was a big deal.

I got to the park early, taking the El for most of the journey and then biking the last couple miles. Certainly a new routine for me... They treated the mens Cat 4 race as the "main event" putting it at the end of the day. I'm sure this was more becuse of the sheer number of racers, they wanted to make sure all other races where completed and off the course.

The course was dry and slightly soft with many corners loose and sandy from the pounding they'd taken troughout the day. Ride time temp was in the 80's. NOT your typical 'cross conditions! 79 men started at 2:45pm for the 30 minutes of hell that would follow. I made the unfortunate mistake of taking a warmup lap, so that by the time I got back to the line, most of those 79 men were already lined up :( I begrudgingly took my place at the back of the pack.



Sucky. I did manage a spot on the outside, however, and eyed my escape route.

The race started (slowly) and I shot to the outside. We started with a long sweeping left turn, so I jumped to the outside and put the hammer down. Not too far from the start was the firt run up. We took a 180 degree turn into the runup which normally required dismounting before the turn. However, with the mass of humanity leading into it at this point, I actually had to dismount 2 turns before the run up. I managed to get myself an inside position on the 180 turn, and had a clean run up. Shortly after we were biking back up that same hill, and I used my SSkillz to move up some more places. At this point I was in about 24th.


You can see the masses I had to navigate



After a long back stretch we entered my favorite part of the course. A series of chicanes had been setup around 4 bushes. It was a blast. Sharp right to enter, hug the next bush tight around to the left, and again on the next tight to the right. Shoot straigt across to the last, hug tight, then a sharp right hander, sandy, to the exit! On my first lap I passed no less than 6 riders through the chicanes. I was stealing inside lines like they were going out of style! And anyone that knows me knows that tight cornering in loose conditions is not my forte, but my Raleigh RX 1.0 was hooked up! (Thanks Ernie! )

Had to gas it up again out of the chicanes to another long bumpy stretch, another 180 left hander, but a little more room. Down the back stretch and into the second barrier. This one was a bitch. It starts downhill into a sharp left 180, sprint back uphill into the barrier. Dismount, run downhill again, 180 degree turn, run back up hill, 180 left and them remount and ride away toward the start/finish. I thought this downhill remount and then the long start/finish straight would lead to some sprint battles. But, honestly, after the barrier and run-up, I was toast, even after the first lap..

By the time I came around on my second lap I was in 13th place! I glanced behind after clearing the first runup and there was a huge chase group. "there's no way I can hold them off!" I thought. I've really got to work on my mental game!! But I kept pushing hard, and the massive train I expected to blow by never came. I pick off another another on this lap and I'm in 12th. I hadn't bothered to check the lap count up to this point, so as I go by the start/finish, I glance over to the right... 3 laps to go! Again i think "I don't think I can keep this up!!"

I'm in a bit of a no man's land at this point. There was a single speeder within striking distance (I later learned he was on a fixed gear!!!!! ) but he had disappeared. I'm sort of yo-yoing off of the next closest rider. As we enter the chicanes again, I can tell he's struggling on the turns, so I try to ride clean and fast through the corners and I gain on him, but in the flats he stays away. I start to reel him in again as we approach the run-up on lap 4.

I'm right behind going into the downhill, and then attack on the climb back up. I had to go all out as I wanted to make the pass stick. My legs are starting to twitch all over like they want to lock up, so I just concentrate on long smooth strokes. We get into the flats, and I can hear him starting to fade. Into the chicanes, right, left, right, he's right behind.. one more hard left and I hammer again... By the next turn about 200 meters away I can see he's started to fade!

I come throught the start finish again and hear the sweetest sound ever.. the bell lap!! all I have to do is hang on and I'll finish in 11th, meeting my goal of a top 15 finish. To top it off, I've even passed some lapped riders! What a race... the lap goes without incident, no one very close at all... I cruise in for a great finish. Later, checking the results, it turns out some of those riders weren't lapped at all and I actually took 9th!! Top 10! I'm psyched.. a perfect end to a perfect day!