Race Report - Cross Crusdade finals
Welp. There it is. Today was the last Crusade race of the season, and it didn’t disappoint. The masses have been screaming for mud, and they were once again rewarded. The weather was spectacular, but our punch-in-the-gut storm earlier this week left plenty of moisture to keep things interesting. The course today sprawled all over the Washington County Fairgrounds, and although virtually flat, it packed in plenty of excitement and drama. Most notable was the mud pit through the corral/rodeo area. The rumor had it that we were basically racing through umm… “manure” in that section; Wet, oatmeal, eat-your-wheels-and-your-soul manure. It was rad! As long as you don’t get a Staff infection.
The B field was about 97 guys today, and Lucky number 380 lined up about where it ended up last week: about 3/4 back. On the gun things sped up quick, and the frenzied oxygen-starved passing effort started. By about five minutes into the race I had dodged around about 60 guys and made it into the pack of top ten riders, but at a price. I used up about 73 of my 76 matches in that effort, and was left to use the remaining three in the remaning four laps. In hindsight maybe the anerobic five minute sprint isn’t the best idea, so I’ll keep that in mind for next year. The course was a fantastic slick bumpy ride through a multitude of fields, barns, puddles, ruts, sh*t, and barkdust. Again, it was mostly flat, so this was a fitness race, which was what led to my ultimate ruin. I huffed and puffed through the first three laps just trying to catch my breath. Every so often a bike with a deralleur would sneak by me, but I didn’t have the kick to challenge many of them, so I played my tactical card, which was to fly into turns way too hot, and duck in on the inside line and hope the tires stuck. That technique worked spectacularly for four out of the five laps, and what I didn’t have in the legs I mostly made up for in stupidity.
Lap five came and I figured I’d slipped to the 20s because more and more guys went sailing by as my engine sputted. I tried semi-valiantly to fend off Chip Sloan of the Grundelbruisers on the last lap. I beat him last week, but this week he was hellbent on revenge. He clearly had much better legs, and I was reduced to more desperate overheated cornering tricks. I thought it might all come together when nearing the latter half of the final lap, but my folly finally caught me and I wiped out in a pathetic heap on a particularly tight corner. I watched Chip sail away while I tried to recover my dignity and my momentum. In the end I finally did cross the line, but not before a few more guys snuck by be because of the wipeout. I ended up just inside the points at 19th place for the day. I slipped six places from last week, but I raced a much more all-out effort this race, so I feel content with the day. I guess there will be no placing in the top ten this year… but there is always 2009, and ‘10, and ‘11. Thanks to OBRA and the Crusade for a fantastic and super fun season.
-Steve F.
Thanks to my buddy Drew Cone for the pics! See the whole lot of a lot of the B race + a few more @
http://theurbancabin.com/CrossCrusade08Nov11/index_4.html
