Wow, back at work after a week of living the life!! Bikes, food and sleep...haha, ah yes, the life of a racer. After a crazy fast couple days in Vegas we hopped on a plane and headed over to the dairy capital of America for the first USGPcx races of 2012....and of course some ice cream.
After weeks of only sun, the sudden appearance of rain in the Madison forecast just before we got there had me frowning a little. I know cross is supposed to be all nasty weather and such, but I’m really enjoying not having to “clean” my bike after riding. Although we had some really crazy storms during the night, the course was so dry that you really couldn’t even tell during the day that there had been any rain at all! No repeat of the previous year’s mud bath at this event....one more weekend of dust.
The course was fast and very rough, with lots of tight corners and some tough little climbs...in all a very fun challenging course. Lucky number 13 both days (no, I’m really not superstitious) gave me a 2nd row call up. Both days played out pretty similar, and I ended up with a pair of 8’s on the weekend. Great start, finding myself in the lead pack for the first lap or 2, but slowly loosing contact as the pace stays high. Definitely feeling Vegas in my legs...as was most everyone else, not just the racing, but the staying up till 2 in the morning eating Chinese food.
Day 1, I had a good battle with Mo Bruno Roy, trying to shake her off my wheel for 2 and a half laps. I finally managed to put some space in between us and gassed it to the finish. Day 2, I found myself working with fellow Canadian Pepper Harlton trying to chase down the group in front of us, but she proved to be stronger on the day and I couldn’t hold her wheel. Sunday’s battle was with Nicole Duke, once I caught her, she seemed to find some more in the tank and we rallied against eachother. It was going to be a really tight race to the finish, but she made a mistake in a corner, sliding out in the grass and I was able to put a little time in between us.
So, 4 hard races in 8 days, and lots of flying......and I’m pooped. Having not raced or trained much during the summer, I’m finding I’m not entering the cross season as strong as I did last year, which I’m hoping is a good strategy World Championships in February is a lloooooooong ways off. Got some work to do over the next couple weeks, get myself ready for USGPcx #2 in Fort Collins.
I have to gush again about how much I’m loving my new bike, the Ridley X-Fire with the Stan’s Iron Cross wheels. Now that I’m playing around with pressure on the tubeless set up, I’m actually convinced it’s a much better option then tubulars! The disc brakes are still something I’m getting used to, learning how to feather the brakes more is going to take a little more time than the 4 rides I’ve had on the bike, haha, but I’m really excited to try them out when the weather starts going south! It’s pretty neat being on a product at the fore-front of a big change, I think this is the way things are going to go in the next couple of years.
Thank you again to the Stan’s NoTubes team for all of the support this past week, I have a great team and I’m really excited about this entire season! Okay, back to work
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