Vegas Baby, CrossVegas.

We got to Vegas Tuesday night around 9. The journey to hotel was cake and we were in the casino eating froyo by 9:45. I tried to stay up a little later as Cross Vegas is a 9:30 start and changing the clock a little might help. Not much luck though and we were asleep pretty early.

Breeze and I awoke with a plan. Eat, get the car from my friends the Crawfords and then chill by the pool. Perfect right. One problem, it was raining. In Vegas. That never happens. The clouds were low and it was chilly. We rolled down to the hotel for a huge breakfast and then met Carol Crawford out front to borrow their car. The car was a Godsend in the end. With bikes and wheels and gear, not having to take shuttles saved many of us.

On the way back from dropping Carol off at home we did a little shopping to pass the time and watched another downpour flood West Vegas. I was thinking, this could be interesting. We got back to the hotel and we went to the gym. I rode the bike for an easy 30 min and Breeze went for a run. By the time we got resettled it was time to pick up Spencer and Kate. Kate was racing the women's race so she needed to be there pretty early. I picked them up around 5 and rolled them to the start. Spencer and I registered and I picked up my number. The start order was random, so I was pumped to find that I was 69 of 120 and had an 8th row start. Pretty solid. Now back to the hotel and get my stuff and then off to get Allen and Jen as well.

I got back to the Palms and Breeze had grabbed me a big lunch to eat at 6. The food thing was interesting, but it helps to be married to an RD. I wolfed down the food and then we grabbed Allen and Jen and rolled into the venue at 6:45. Perfect timing. We were milling about, getting ready when Greg Keller (www.mudandcowbells.com) stormed into the tent area fuming. Not 5 minutes into the race, he was taken out, wheel destroyed, bike scratched. That was the type of race this is. 100+ guys and not a lot of space. Fight the nerves Grant, fight the nerves. After the Wheeler Dealer race me and Allen and Spencer rolled onto the course for a pre-ride. The course was spongy in spots and really greasy in others. In other words, not the usual Cross Vegas. Spencer and I were enjoying the atmosphere, his bunny hopping firing up the already big crowds, when I saw a rider pass me. No big thing until I saw the rainbow stripes on his arms. Former World Champion Bart Wellens cruised by and this all got a little real. Holy S@%$. What did I get myself into?

I got back to the Boulder Cycle Sport tent and had my pre race meal. A Breeze Bar, a Vanilla Mix 1 and a double espresso. Ready to go, I found myself at staging 90 min later. We lined up and took a couple deep breaths and then we were off. I am tingling now thinking about it. 120 guys charging around the opening circuit. The grass in this section we would only ride once was a sponge. I dove wide and opened it up and passed a good number of guys and found myself right on my new Plains to Peaks Racing teammate Spencer Powlison's wheel as we hit the first lap. It was so loud. We hit the first run up at Mach 1 and the crowd was 4 deep and screaming. It was already strung out with 7 of the worlds top 15 at the race, it was shaping up to be the fastest and deepest race in North America. Stay on it Grant, Stay on it was rolling through my head as we crested the back side hill and started down. All of the sudden Spencer lost it wide and clipped the tape. the field scattered as Spencer made a great save and we were off again. After lap 1 I was in the hurt locker and started to lose some places. Spencer came back by and then Brandon Dwight came by with a train. I started to recover a bit when my buddy Will Iaia passed me and I was on his wheel. The lessons of the road season were in my head, don't lose the wheel. Your life is that wheel. I fought, hard and kept it. The something awesome happened, we started rolling people back in. My friends (Neal, Webber, Keller, Robson, Jen and the Crawfords) and Breeze were in my ears. Go! Hup! Move Up! and we did. Things started to make sense. The Carroll Composites King Louie was handling great and the G:38's were holding the course with the Specialized triggers providing the grip. I was breathing through my eyeballs, but grinning ear to ear.

I grabbed a couple dollars on the hand ups, but they were in tough spots. With 4 to go we were in a good spot. 1/2 a lap back and holding our own. We passed Joachim Parbo (who later, while smiling ear to ear, said he knew he was in trouble when the fat guy went by) and kept on the gas. We might not get lapped I thought. Then it happened. the leaders hit the gas and caught Driscoll and hammered it. Our half a lap was gone like that. We were full gas to survive. One more and essentially we would make it. No luck. We got pulled. I ended up 61st. Spencer 40th, Dwight 30th, Krughoff 18th and Yannick Eckmann 16th. A great Colorado showing, not to mention a pretty great Apex showing.

We regrouped at the BCS tent and traded stories and then loaded up the Crawford's Xterra and headed back to the strip and then out on the town. What a day and what an experience.