Dave Randleman and I decided to race in KC Saturday at Boss Cross #3. The course was tight and rough, but well-designed, given the constraints of the park. Riders were bitchin' and moanin' about the two sand runs included in the course, other features created more difficulties for them. Tons of off-camber work, lots of fallen walnuts, a large number of turns, and my nemesis, a tricky little dirt berm climb, provided plenty of challenges.
Dave raced 40+ and I raced in the 50+ group. I was late to the start, so stuck in the third row. Dave was well-situated and got a very good start. Halfway through the first lap, he was in 5th place amongst a strong group of riders. Getting to the first sand run, he managed to drop his chain, a action that would be repeated several times during the race. Losing position, he kept hammering away and by the end of the race finished 7th, a very solid ride again a tough field. A bit more luck, maybe the top 5.
My race went even worse. Trapped behind a lot of slower riders, I had a difficult time getting to the front. Meanwhile, Paul Fancher is off and has no one holding him up, gaining a 8 second lead through the first lap. Caught behind a crash (d'oh, Paul, here's 5 seconds you can have), I finally get towards the front, and am starting to close on him, when I drop my chain in the sand run. Here, Paul, have another 10 seconds! Get back on, start the chase again, and crash on the berm, can't get unclipped-have another 10 seconds. Chase again. Too scared to climb the berm, I run it-have another 3 seconds, Paul. I finally ride a couple of clean laps and have closed again, and with 2 laps to go, I'm almost on top of him-he has only a 20 meter lead, has slowed as the race progressed and is ready to be crushed. After the sand, into the tape I go, losing another couple of seconds. Hammer again, get to the berm, and I'm down again, except this time I bend my derailluer hanger. Game over. I cruise through the final lap and finish 2nd. Subtract the 50-60 seconds I lost crashing stupidly, and it's the difference. Just an embarrassing performance.
Made a last second decision (at 9:30 AM) to ride Spooky Cross this morning. Bad idea. Racing the open division, I got into the 2nd lap and my legs were absolutely dead. Saturday was apparently harder on me than I thought. Having competed as a runner and cyclist for the past 30 years, I'm learned not to be too proud to pull the plug on a bad race-there's always another. Not looking forward to spending the next 50 minutes suffering like a dog to finish DFL, I DNF'ed and went home.
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