Afton CX

Wow what a great race, and another one in the books! This was race number 4 for me and by far the best race and best performance to date. Out of 60 racers I finished 34th which puts me in the 57th percentile for this race. For comparison, last week I finished way back in the 79th percentile!

It was also a great race because of the huge fan section cheering along! It was a great family afternoon with a bike ride in between.

The circuit this time was a true cyclocross course with long grass stretches, several barriers (that were really tall!), a wicked hill to run up (with a skull on a stick at the bottom as warning), mud, dirt, gravel, and pavement! Personally, I found out that I really do love the run ups. The photo on the right here is the hill on the first lap, and I am the one in black at the end of the pack. But I think I passed eight of those nine people during this run up! So I finally found something I am good at in cyclocross. Running! Hmmm...

The best moment for me came on the last lap when I was chasing two riders and finally caught one near the top of the hill. I wasn't sure I had the energy to pass him, but decided that I had to try so I charged up the last quarter of the hill past him, and left him behind. I tried to catch the rider in front of him too, but there wasn't enough course left so I rode into the finish line easy and alone.

This race was very well documented and I got lots of cool photos of L. and I jumping, running, and looking tired along with some great shots of the family too. I am glad the race was Saturday and not today, that would have been miserable!