....Was not a weekend of racing to miss. The annual Ashland area cyclo-cross race held the 3rd weekend in October was a perfect combination of racers, fans, weather & fun atmosphere. My many regards & thanks go out to the organizers of Paul Belknap & Sara Hudson, as well as the volunteers who made it possible to put on such a great event year after year.
My hearty suggestion is make it part of your bike racing schedule in the future and give it a try, one day or both. You won't be disappointed by either of the venues, the set up or the good times you have. (Disclosure: I have no vested interest in promoting it other than it's a truly good event to check out).
So how did the racing go anyways, right?
Well here's a start....
Saturday morning I'm about relaxed as it comes. My attention had recently been on the UPCross series so BayCross hadn't amped on my racing radar. Though as the morning went on, I could feel myself getting more & more into race mode. I'm not sure what's that's like for other people but as the years have rolled by, I'm certainly not the jittery, anxious nervous competitor I used to be. Doesn't really matter what race either -- the butterflies are mostly dead. I figure I've done everything I can leading up to any race & what I haven't done I can't change. For the most part it's full on effort from the word "Go" so all you can do as the saying goes is "run what ya brung" and let the cards fall where they may.
Paul Belknap & some others had worked on putting the word out this year on the race so it's always interesting to see who's going to show. With $500 in prize money having a inkling of what the competition is like sets a tone to what the race might be like.
Some good suspects showed up, Shawn Gort who's never, ever let me have easy time on day 1 of Baycross. Curt Cline, Big Mike Weisphenning & Scott "I don't race nearly as fast as I'm capable" Nesvold from Washburn. The "T n T" show from Seeley/Hayward Tom Gaier & Tom Meyer, as well as Adam Tripp and Mr. former kick butt Time Trialer Nick Robertson to name a few. Even my long time racing adversary I struggle against time & again -the skiing stud Nikoli Anikin.
More of the recap to come including a video of the "le-mond" start... but I just checked the time I gotta scoot for now.... later.
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