Columbia Cross Race Report

As some of you know, Pop Tart and I did a cross race in Columbia on saturday. Before that, we rode Landahl on friday. (If you've never been to Landahl you should put it on your to-do list.)Then on Sunday we drove to STL to race in the Bubba series, but you already know that story.

The columbia cross race seemed to me to be a bit of an underground thing. Jeff Yielding was nowhere in sight, if you catch my meaning. The course was pretty fast with  a lot of good 180 turns, a bit of a straightaway, and some very challenging gravel road climbs. The theme seemed to be barrier placement: There was a double set of them in the open grass, a single on a grass run-up, and yet another single in the middle of a very loose gravel road climb.

When they said "go" I took off a little slow like I was going to hang with the group, but then I thought it would be more fun to try to lead a lap. So, I did. I sprinted ahead and surprisingly held the lead through the entire first lap. At the end of the gravel climb there is a remount area that leads into a very fast downhill into the field. At the top I turned to see who was behind me and I saw no one. I had a ridiculous gap and I knew that could only mean one thing:  I had taken off too hard and I would soon fall apart. But since Pop Tart and I were the only 2 Jeff City boys who showed up, it seemed prudent to  give them college boys a run for their money. I think I lead 4-5 laps before the eventual winner passed me. The downhill was key to my success in this race, as well as being able to remember what points in the course would be good for going hard or resting. 

I guess I'll just go ahead and admit that I drafted off of Corey A LOT.

Since I don't have any pictures and I know only half of you are literate anyway, I'll close by saying we each had a very good race, coming in 2nd and 3rd. We worked together to fight the wind and I can say with 100% confidence that we entertained the crowd. There were no medals, no trophies and no bowls of free chili afterwards. Our reward was better than that, we got the satisfaction of having worked as a team to stand side-by-side on an imaginary podium after laying waste to all-but-one who would stand in our way.

Big deal if there were only 5 people in the race. I heart you too, Pop Tart