Men's C Race:
Ok, so I didn’t think there would ever be this much climbing in cross. I was concerned, to say the least, after a few pre-ride laps. I knew it would be really important to race my race otherwise I’d never see the finish.
I started 39th out of 83 starters. So about sixth row. Thankfully, it seemed everyone else was just as concerned about the staircase and kicker hill that the start was really mellow. No real sprint so I was able to hold position into the staircase switchbacks. That’s when people started running through tape, swinging wide, falling, missing shifts. Holy crap, people lost their minds! I managed to avoid the carnage, stayed smooth, and just kept chugging along. I decided to run up the kicker hill. I lost a few spots there but gained a few back on the descent and corners. Some dude overcooked one of the tighter turns so badly that he high sided and slapped the ground hard. Really hard. I barely got around him. I held my own on the back half of the course in the flats, corners, and barriers. Towards the end of the lap, Christy Perkins told me I was in 34th. Holy crap, I actually moved up a bit! Sweet!
Lap 2 I had to recover a bit so I lost a good 4-5 spots on the staircase. Lap 3 and 4 I did my best to maintain and battled with a few guys back and forth. I lost a few spots in the staircase each lap, but not without a fight. I finished 51st. I was hoping to be in the top half of the field, but such is life. I had fun and did better than I thought I would with the hills.
The descent would have been tricky as hell if the place was a mudfest. I'm glad it was dry while I still get the handling of my bike down.