October 22, 2006
Cross Racing in Augusta
Mud and rain was the setting for our cyclo-cross race in Augusta this Sunday morning. The Masters 35+ group started at 10:00 AM followed about a minute later by the Masters 45+ group. I had a fast start and took the lead right away which was good because the first obstacle came within a few seconds. Quickly clearing the two wooden barriers, remounting, getting right back up to speed and a gap began opening back to the second rider.
I didn't see it but the second rider, Lamar, was chasing hard and over-cooked the first high speed turn plowing through the marking tape and careening off course. My lead expanded and before the end of the first lap I had some riders at the back of the 35+ group in sight. I must have been riding well because I eventually caught and passed all but the top several riders in the 35+ group.
The course was deteriorating as the saturated ground was being churned up by the tires. In spite of the worsening conditions my lap times varied by only a second or two each lap. The fifth of six total laps was my fastest, probably because of better gear selections and line choices, not a harder physical effort.
In the end, I stood on the top step of the podium with two teammates at my side. Second place was our newest teammate and recent recruit, Torre Smitherman, who is a dominating mountain bike racer in the summer and this was his second ever 'cross race! Third place was a fierce battle won by teammate Jim Behning, with some very impressive racing. Following closely in fifth was Wojtek Wysocki, who came to race in spite of having out-patient surgery just the day before.
