Oct. 17, 2010

An early morning start for a solo trip to the 2010 Syracuse Grand Prix Cyclocross in Memory of James Konski. The race was different since it was longer and had fewer classes, for men it was open, 40+ and 55+, so I would be racing against much faster guys than the past few weeks. My start was great and I entered the first technical parts in the top half of my race (40 and 55+ men) and felt good till the barricades. I knew from pre-riding the course they were much taller than normal and sure enough, the guy RIGHT in front of me hits it with his foot and falls. I was already in midair so I double clutched hopped around him, the next barricade, and on with the lap, but several spots down. The next time around it was my turn, as I leaped to remount my bike something went wrong and I missed the saddle landing on my rear tire with my hamstring. (I have a large bruise to show for it) After that my race felt like it was falling apart, so I rode a couple of laps till I felt better and started catching riders. I have three that I really wanted and caught them all with 2 laps to go. I always try when I make a pass, to put enough distance on the rider so psychologically he knows it was a final pass and demoralize him. I did it and was alone, somewhere in the field. I got bored and decided I wanted to have a sprint finish (just to amuse me, I wasn't catching anyone else) so I slowed up and waited, as they got closer, I worried that I gave them some hope (the psychological advantage) so I picked up the pace to try and make them hurt to catch me... it didn't work, I just rode away from that pack and finished the race soft pedaling. I finished 19th of 29 finishers, I thought several more started, but who knows. Only 4 or 5 more cross races this season!