Finally a -- "W"

Well it has been almost 2 full years, but I finally got to stand on the top step of the podium Sunday. 1st place at the USAC Bloomer Park XC race. This is my 1st "W" since stepping up to sport class in Men 30-34 last year. So to get it was a personal goal of mine. It was a great day for racing, and overall there was a good number of racers and fans alike. My class had about 11 guys, so not bad for the 2nd USAC race of the year. Furthermore, the course was in the best shape I have ever seen it! Especially for this time of year. So my hat is off to Derek from RBS and the Tailwind crew for all the clean up you guys did. As for the race, what at great time. My class lined up with the age group before us. I was not happy about this, but it is what it is. When the whistle blew, the mass start of people was very confusing and jittery to say the least. People could not clip in so they would cut you off or bump into you. One guy stopped in the middle of the pack and started working on his bike. I still don't know what that was all about. And if there is a XC course where the hole shot is important it is Bloomer. You race from the open field for about a 1/4 mile and then it dumps you into the single track. About 100 yrds into the single track is a long steep climb. So if you don't make it to that climb sitting in about 5th or better, forget it -- your walking. This was the case for me. After the confusing start. I was sitting in about 12th. The guy in front of me decided to shift down 4 gears at one time in the middle of the climb and threw his chain. All I could see was the lead guys ahead slipping away. I ran past the guy without a chain and jumped back on my bike and finished the climb and began my chase. It took me about 8 mins, but I finally caught the lead guys at the switch backs. There was about 4 of us and then 2 peeled off from the pace that was set by Adam Naish and myself. This is what made the race so fun. From that point on Adam and I duked it out on the race course for 2 1/2 of the 3 six mile laps. I stuck on his tail for about 1 1/2 laps and then decided to go up front and pull. Part of the reason for me doing this was 1 - We were starting to play chicken and I did not want to take a chance of letting anyone else catch back up to us. And 2 - I was feeling strong, so I wanted to see what Adam had in his legs. He was up to the test. As we battled back and forth, it was down to the finally 1/2 mile on the open field. With less than a quarter mile to go, I shifted into my big ring and started to stand. Adam was still on my tail and actually was in the better position to make a move for the sprint. But I really wanted this win and had some juice to spare in my legs, so I gave it all I had and made the final lunge for the line and that was it -- My 1st win as a sport class rider!

And lets not forget about Nolan. He race but crashed hard on the kids course. He was continuing his training for the upcoming Stony TT in the big people race. This was his first time racing on a geared bike. A 6 speed 20 in. Specialized Hotrock. The boy is geeked and making me proud. This is what bike racing is all about!!!!!

As for TSB we had a good showing of racers and a lot of us took home some hardware. More importantly, most of us that have raced at Bloomer before all beat our own beat times. So WAY TO GO TSB and thanks to all the friends and family that showed up and cheered us on. You don't know how much all the cowbells and cheering helps us get through all the pain and want to keep going!