States CX

UPDATE ERIC CAUGHT ME AND SPENCE PLAYING CAPTURE THE FLAG


I added the blur effect to make it look like I was going faster.
I still ended like this:


..somehow I escaped photo-documentation..this is similar to my finish....

The best part of cx is when you shut your eyes just before sleeping and relive each lap, each corner, each mistake.

Such was the passing of my last moments the evening of saturday's state shampionship. From the whistle to the stairs, to the last fateful lap, I re-raced MN's state championship.

Ahh, but what a race. Without a doubt-my best ever. You wouldn't know it by my results. But for the first time all season, I have some legitimate bad-luck to blame.

I started fine, but lost some places at the first sand-pit arrival. Everyone fell everywhere. So I had to dismount and run. But I felt good. Then the triple-barriers, and I felt good. Then the long stretch into the ever-strengthen wind, but I felt good. Then the stairs, and those hurt. But I recovered and felt good. Then then stretch back to the start and I felt good over that little rise.

I was passing some people I didnt think I could pass. I wasn't being passed much either. N8 and I ended up together and rode hard the second lap. Again with the sand pit, someone goes down, I had got off and run. But I felt good.

Then somewhere along the 3rd lap Nate made a surge and got a gap. I may not have felt good, or I let him go, but there he went. I just hung on to wheels, just watching what would happen. It was fun to see him hang away and really power on. He probably felt good. Slowly the wheels I was holding, started clawing N8 back. And I was feeling good. Then the wheels caught N8 and since I felt good, I began to look for an opportunity to make my move and see if N8 would block a little.

[Here comes the excuse...]

Then my tire-bead popped outta the rim. I thought I broke a spoke cause all I got was "rub, rub, rub." We were coming to the pit, luckily, and I knew I had to make a wheel change. So no attack from me. Race over.

I swapped the wheel, and got rolling. Well, since I'm done, I started to enjoy this thing called racing and headed towards the whiskey hand-ups. (never got one).

1-to go and I'm thinking.."ok. You feel good. Give it another go. Hard this time around."

[then]

CRAMP.
left leg shuts down.

Cramp.
right leg shuts down.

cramp, cramp, cramp.

so I'm crawling. Crippled.

I'm thinking, "tell the pit-ref that I'm DNF." But someone rolled by and I thought, "He's not beating me today." So I re-mount spin-softly, spin-harder, then crank it.

Okay, I get moving again. Back to the stairs. Grab a dollar-hand-up (my first). Around the soft mud. down the hill. Hit it hard till the bike path. Hit it hard again past the wheel pit. Crawl up that stupid little rise. Smile at Andy Powell. Hit it hard at the hockey rink. Roll to the finish.

Try to catch my breath.

What a great day. Special thanks to family for coming out. Rob's been my water bottle-hand-up-in-law almost all season. He deserves my hand-up-buck.