Monday, September 26, 2005

Charm City Cross


CCC bike close up
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.

Our race yesterday was a big success.
What started as a vague idea during an end of the season dinner last December became reality on Sunday.

After months of planning race day arrived with the alarm clock going off at 5am. After a quick stop for coffee, water, and gatorade I was at the park at 5:45.

Working in the dark our crew set up the course from scratch, finishing just in time for the first race of the day at 9am.

The course seemed to be well received with a good mix of speed and power, with plenty of technical turns, and 4 dismounts per lap (sand pit, barriers, natural barrier, stairs).

Even though I was cooked by the time my race started I still had a blast racing the course...but it sure hurt! 8-)

Most of the fields were large, making for some good group racing dynamics. I was in a group with several other guys for most of the race. We traded spots all race long, which kept the pace high and built a nice cushion behind us. When I was really hurting on the last lap it was nice knowing that at least nobody was going to sneak up from behind.

After the race it was back to work for the final races and then course breakdown. By 5pm we were done and ready for a glass of Chimay to toast the day. We ended up with over 200 racers, well over our initial goal of 75.

1 comment:

gwadzilla said...

I heard it was a good event
from strangers and friends

maybe I will be able to hit it next year....

now I need to focus on either repairing my old Jamis Nova or ordering a new cross bike....

or better yet...
both

working sunday keeping me away from Lily Pons

will have to look further ahead

as cross season past last year without me joining in on any of the fun