Local Race in Los Alamos NM. $300 payout for 2nd!
Massanutten Hoo-Ha, Final US Cup Triple Crown Race in VA
Great weekend! I traveled with Kelli Emmet (Giant) which was a blast, we had a hotel with everything and a van who's doors opened and closed at the touch of a button. We did not bring any support to the race but Sue Haywood's boyfriend Tim of Shenandoah Bicycle really helped us out!
I was totally stoked that my new kits from Primal showed up (early)!! Thanks Dave (www.trailwatch.net) for all the Cycling News pictures in my new kit.
Super D 2nd Place!
Loved this SuperD course, rocky, bits of climbing, fast, you had to pay attention the entire time. George (the local promoter) did a great job listening to the racers and making changes to the starting order/times based on feedback.
Short Track 3rd Place
Spectators were so loud and fun!
The courses were the best I've seen, everyone agreed the short track was awesome. After the race everyone was wondering if these guys could build a great short track course just for us, why can't the National Championship guys or other big races build a fun short track? The men's race did have a bit of an issue because they were pulling lapped riders after they were lapped and this led to a wreck taking out one of the leaders (Sid) on the last lap...
Cross-country
The cross-country course was great, I however did not have a great race. First of all they started every Cat2, Cat1, Pro racer at the same time without lining us up. We didn't realize this was what they meant when they said mass start, we assumed there would be small gaps between groups. I was not a fan. I love Sue Haywood's quote in the Cycling News XC Recap "That start was not cool." "If that's old school, I think we should bury the old school."
It was really hot, ~95 degrees and humid, but that never ended up being an issue. About 30 minutes in I again moved off the trail to let faster guys by and a stick popped up out of the thick eastern coast undergrowth/leaves/debris went through the spokes and took the derailleur with it. I was finally able to get the derailleur out of the spokes, the wheel spun and I tried to line the derailleur up "normally" but the shifting was way off. With the chain slipping on 4 out of 5 pedal strokes I had to stop again and another racer who I believe was Thomas (Tim's Business partner at Shenandoah Bicycle) helped get it ridable - fellow racers were allowed to help each other outside the tech zone at this race. When I went through the tech zone Tim worked on it some more while I pounded water. I went back out to salvage the last of my race but ended up wrecking and hyperextending my elbow (it popped).
As I gingerly rode the last 30 minutes I couldn't believe I had such a bad race, was in pain but still thought the course was amazing. I would highly recommend this race, and the town of Harrisonburg seemed to have a great cycling/arts/college community.
