Capital Classic Cross Photos

Fitness Concepts Capital Cross Classic UCI
Sunday, December 5, 2004
Lake Fairfax Park, Reston, VA
B race


Pre-Race

Before the race all was good. The weather was a balmy 60 degrees and sunny. The course was generally very fast with a lot of surface transitions, quite a bit of climbing, and some tricky technical spots. I arrived plenty early to ride some slow laps getting to know the course.



When the race started it was all business and I was focused riding hard and staying with the front group as long as possible. I started fast and stayed on the tail of the leading group for a couple of laps before I had to back off just a bit to avoid blowing up. The pace was very fast and I had pushed my limit at the start. This strategy paid off because by the time I went out the back of the group there was a big gap back to the next riders on the course.




Everyone found the ~secret~ line on the right side of the gravel. There were few spots on the course to get any recovery, but as you can see we were looking for any draft at all. The faster paved sections were good for group riding, but the group I was in was splintering as the attacks came from riders looking to get clear and into the top 10. Each time up the road someone would jump and force the rest of us to try to latch on. This took it's toll...



I'm gasping for breath as John Hostetter catches me after the hurdle hill. At this point I'm in survival mode. I held John's wheel for a lap, but was gapped as he was riding the technical stuff flawlessly and powering away on the grinding sections. The gap was around 15 seconds the last two laps, but I kept riding hard to hold off the rider behind me, who seemed to be getting closer.




Luckily I had a lot of family and friends cheering me on, including SUPERFAN and little brother Scott ringing his monster cowbell every time I came by! I was tired and suffering but the cheers kept me pushing myself, especially on the last lap as I caught back up to John on the final climb.





Just after the finish my heart is still pounding, but I'm pretty excited to have caught up to John on the last lap and taken him in a very close sprint. I ended up 16th, my best finish yet in a MAC race. In fact, our whole crew rode great all season long, getting better every race. Most importantly, we had a lot of fun practicing and racing.



Here's to a fun day and a fantastic 'cross season. I'm happy to have some time to relax and get away from training. I'm glad that everyone came out to check out the race.