Racking up another at Bloomer CX!

Well I am on a roll. I actually nailed another CX win, and I did it at Bloomer! Just like Munson, This has not been a good place for me to race cx in the past few years. So I had a score to settle. I have been feeling great the past few weeks. Right on top of my game. So drive down this morning, I had confidence on my side. The Weather as bitter cold. It was below 20 degrees at the start of the race. The ground was covered in frost and slippery. My warm up included a long stay in the car with the heater on until about 5 mins before the start of the C-race. When the whistle blew, I crank over a few pedal strokes and took the hole shot! Through the grass, around the turn and up the slight 2 track climb, back onto the tarmac and away to the barriers. Before I go any farther, I could not help but notice all the spectators out today! And they were all noisy! Made for a great race and kept me going in these less than desirable conditions. So WAY TO GO, AND THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT! As I continued to push through the course, I was gain a huge lead over the field except for none other than the OX! Jason Melecosky and a flying Rhino. I was sitting in front thinking, My form is as good as it is going to be so it is my race to lose. So I just kept pushing as hard as I can. Maybe too hard at first. As I rounded one of the corners that lead back into the single track behind the velodrome, my tires slipped out and I landed hard on the ground. After taking a quick inventory of the bike and myself to make sure we were OK, I hoped back on the bike and took off. By this time Jason caught me and now was in front. I told him to go, go, go, and attack on the paved stuff. He lead through the second lap and we worked together. It was enough to the break the Rhino rider and put some more time into the rest of the field. On the last lap I tired to attack in the beginning to see if the OX was wearing down. I opened up a gap and though it might be enough. But by the time I got to the twisty pine tree section, He reeled me back. Knowing that I was not going to out fox him, I figured I would save some energy and let it come down to the final sprint. As we made our way through the rest of the course we lined up side by side in the last 1000 m straight away! The RPM ramped up. Jason would pull ahead, then I would pull ahead, back and forth, back and forth. The quads and lungs were searing! But I still felt like there was more. As the line approached I tried a few more hard kicks to just pull ahead and the final lunge for the line ------ photo finish.

The USAC judge came over smiling and said that was great. And then told me my front wheel was the first across the line by about 3 inches. That was exciting racing! Great job Jason.

What the transponder said:

Me -- 28:03:844
OX -- 28:03:885

I raced in the B's again in the Single speed class and had another good effort. This was the largest SS CX class this year with 7. The high light of my race was beating Mark Becker. He beat me up all year in the MTB time trial series in the single speed class after I had already raced my geared bike. So I had one more chance to get him before the end of the year. On the first lap heading into the finishing area, I was on Marks wheel and he took the transition from the dirt, to the wood chips, to the 90 degree corner onto the pavement to sharp and went down like a ton of bricks. I then turned up the gas and went as hard as I could. I put in a huge gap and maintained a hard effort for the rest of the race and coasted home for very respectable 3rd place.

TSB had a good crowd out there today. Todd L, Curt P ( back in action. way to go curt!) Benny M, Jay S. And the Schneider fan club. YOU GUYS ROCK! Thanks for cheering us on!

And my coach! JB Hancock. I keep saying this but I could have not gotten this far this season without your help. And you rocked out there today. Looked strong. And remember what you keep telling me. "focus on the long term goal".

So one more race to go 2 weeks from now. A week to rest and my form is at it's best! I hope I can carry it to Waterford with me. So you all then