Lehigh Valley Velodrome Cross - Cap'nChaz

Rain, Rain, Rain, Rain. Um, that was the weather leading up to Lehigh Valley Cross at the velodrome. How about race day, you ask? More rain varying from drizzle to downpour at times. The course turned into the most beautiful mess.

As a result, half of the technical areas were completely and utterly unrideable, so I wasn't able to take as much advantage of these areas as I like, but I still had a great ride. My start placed me mid-pack as usual. I should have started harder, for I got caught in a ton of less-skilled and less-aggressive traffic running through the slippery stuff. The rest of the race was spent bridging up to groups and picking through them. The best part was when I bridged up to a group of four right before a set of four switchback turns on a baseball infield. I passed three of the four guys in these corners, one on each of the first three!

Most of the time I was even able to put a respectable amount of power down on the soggy straights, which made me ecstatic! One guy did pass me on a power section right before a corkscrew downhill, he took a poor line, hit the brakes and turned, and I blasted straight down on the propper line, guiding my handlebars and forearms into and past his thigh. Sorry man, take a better line next time; rubbin' is racin'. I did not see him again.

After eating through most of the field, and finally getting the 6th place guy out of reach behind me (this took a lot of effort), I had the fourth place guy (nicknamed Woody?) just out of reach. Instead of sitting up, I continued on my tear, figuring that if he made a mistake on the last lap, I had a good chance of catching him. Plus, keeping the hurt on would be good training for future races. He made no mistake, but the announcer still thought that there would be a battle for fourth. Though I had got to within 25 feet of the guy, the announcer was wrong. On that course, 25 feet was a long ways to go. Woody had felt the pressure but did not make a mistake and stayed just out of reach for me to contest the position. We congratulated each other on our efforts after the finish line.

Fantastic race! So much fun! Finally, some mud. Good physical racing. Action all the way 'till the last lap. Good times with alumnus Jay and regional 'cross regulars. Coming home with some good schwag on an extended podium. What a great day!

I am going to have to figure out how to start a bit harder without putting too much hurt in my legs. Oh well, there should be a few more opportunities to learn this before nationals.