Cross the Domes

Wait, how am I taking a picture of myself while racing? Well, I am not. That is my friend Ryan. He and his wife came to town this weekend to visit and so he took part in his first cx race. Luckily, we are pretty much the same height so he could use one of my bikes and borrow a thermal skinsuit. I have to say it was a little weird seeing a guy out on the course who looked a lot like me.

During his race it was in the low 40's and by the time my race came around it seemed like the temps had dropped even further. Oddly enough I got a call up to the front row for the start, but so did a bunch of other guys. I was in the dead middle and because so many guys were trying to be in the front row, the bars of the guys on both sides of me were jammed up next to mine. I had no idea how I was going to start with people that close.

When the whistle blew I let the guys on both sides of me shoot forward and then I started. It was a bad start. I went from top 8 to 20 something by the time we hit the grass. In the first 1/4 mile I worked hard to get back up near the front. I got close. I must of gotten back up to 11th but I couldn't close the gap to the next group. For a full lap I just hung in limbo, trying to get up to them. Then a guy passed me quick and I didn't react fast enough and he bridged the gap (he also kept moving up).

I had an okay race. I never gave up and tried to track down Angry Andy who was just in front of me but every time I was about to close the gap he would give a little surge too. It isn't the placement I wanted, but the competition is great in the 35+ 1,2,3's this year. What did go great was riding my new bike that Ryan and I finished building Thursday. Check it out here. It rides wonderfully. (the pics don't show that silver Thomson stem is now on the bike) Also, enjoy these videos of the race that Ryan shot.

This is from the 2nd or 3rd lap. Only watch the first 12 seconds. The rest is Ryan trying to get more footage.

This comes from around lap 3 or 4 of 7. I thought the course was awesome, super rough in spots, but the layout was cool. This video has content the full time.