DClog

Blue Ridge CX Race

After last night's episode with one slightly intoxicated driver smashing into my car, causing a 4-car wreck, Bev's trip to the ER and my run in with Forsyth county's own Barney Fife... it's safe to say my 4 or 5 hours of sleep was less than peaceful.

Made it up to Blue Ridge GA by about 8:15 AM for the 6th and penultimate race in the 2007 Georgia Cyclocross Series. Pre-rode the course, crashed hard once and decided it was way too hard plus I felt terrible and the whole thing was going to suck. But it's only 45-minutes so I'll just hang on the best I can. Staging for the start I noticed my rear tire was soft and it was too late to fix it so I ran to the pit and switched to my back-up bike.

I got a decent start and made it to the top of the hill at the front. Wayne (aka Hillbilly), who lives in the area and I suspect had practiced the course in advance, made a great move over the top coming around me and opening a big gap. I chased and didn't catch him until the end of the lap and took back the lead.

Miraculously, I stayed at the front of the race, uncontested until the final lap when Gerard came charging hard. I was riding as strong and smooth as I possibly could but he kept getting closer. Fortunately for me the finish line came just in time.

That was a surprising result and with so much good competition present I would never have suspected it was possible.

Check out this course profile (data graph below). The Masters race was six laps, each one started with a long brutal climb followed by a screaming fast descent highlighted by a lot of gravel, some grass, mulch, pavement, a few technical turns plus some high-speed barriers sections.

Posted by dancoy at December 2, 2007 06:13 PM