All in a day of Cross

It was Schoolyard Cross out at the Dawson School today and man did they put on a show. The Rocky Mounts folks set up a great course and a great venue. In the end it had its ups and downs and was a great day of Cross for all.

I got it started early on with the 35+'s at 9:45. I was primed and ready to go and had a good start without a callup and was 9th wheel as we rolled into the second lap. then I made some poor choices. Just a tip here, when you have been getting 23rd and 25th and you find yourself in 9th, why go for a pass. Sit in, relax, get recovered. No, I went for it and passed a couple of guys only to incur the wrath. The group ratcheted it up a notch and I was out the back. And boy did I pop.

Now to be fair, it has been a tough week. I had skin cancer surgery on Tuesday and didn't sleep much the rest of the week, but fireworks are fireworks and I set them off, the wrong way. So I struggled into 16th at the finish. One of my best of the year and I was pumped with that. And remember, it ain't cross unless you get mud in your teeth.





So Breeze was next. Her day was not as grand. She has no callup, even though she is about 5th in the standings, because she doesn't have an ACA license yet. Mostly because of bad boyfriend advice. So she was in the back as they came into the mud pit. One girl bobbles and Breeze in in the mud. That's not so bad, but as she gets up someone rails into her bars and breaks the rear shifter off. Gone. No shifting. 3 minutes into the race. She was on a singlespeed the rest of the day and not a big gear. So she killed it up the hills but suffered in the flats. I was proud of her as she worked hard and got through the race. The bad news is we need a new rear shifter.


The last of the day was my singlespeed race and I have to admit, the legs were a little toasty. But I had eaten my Breeze Bars and Mix 1's and I was ready. I had to go out really conservative as I was a bit cashed from before, but I worked my way up. I was motivated as they said prizes were going 7 deep. Gotta get something right? Well i rode my way up to 3rd and then up to second and when Oliver rolled a tire on the last lap I was in first. But it was brief. Chris Thomspson of 303 Cycling was not to be beaten today and I settled for 2nd place. The upside though was I won a gift certificate to Boulder Cycle Sport. Maybe I can replace the shifter.

We had a blast in the mud and rolled a great day. Topped it off with Good Times and Dairy Queen too. Awesome.