Warwick CX Wknd.--Cat 4 (7/111 & 2/106)

Saturday Result: 7th out of 111 starters

Sunday Result: 2nd out of 106 starters

Report: On Saturday, for the second time this fall, I was coming off a weekend off from racing, and for the second time, I felt flat. I started in the first row and went out with the leaders. I followed wheels for the first few laps but just couldn’t open it up. About halfway through the race, I was still in the top five, but when an ECV rider attacked by running hard through a section of deep sand, I could not respond. I tried to hold my position by riding efficiently through the rooted, technical sections but ended up seventh overall.

When I got home on Saturday, I took an ice bath to try to recover from the race, and I felt good when I got up on Sunday morning. I got to the race a bit earlier so that I could spend some more time finding good lines through the mix of sand and roots. At the gun, I took the lead, feeling my lungs open up. Going into the first turn, two riders were trying to come through on the inside, and I was happy to get behind them. I stayed with this group of four or five until a rider attacked heading into the second section of sand. The leaders did not respond, so I attacked and bridged up to the lone leader. I followed him through the barriers and a twisty series of 180s. Once the course opened up, he slowed, so I jumped and took the lead. I spent the next lap or two building a ten-second lead, and I was thinking that if I could get out of sight, I could take the win. But my depth perception isn’t very good, and I got confused by some cones that the officials put down midrace to mark a dangerous section. I thought I had to go around these cones, and I ended up having to put my foot down for a second to figure out which way to go. By this time, my lead was down to four seconds. One guy came up from the chase group and tried to attack. I got on his wheel for half-a-lap, but when we got to a long paved section, he slowed, so I attacked to take the lead again. At this point, I was feeling good about taking the win, but a rider bridged and passed me on the sandy running section with a lap and a half to go. I was able to respond and followed him through the bell. Just before the first sandy running section of the last lap, I tried to attack, but he responded and got a gap through the sand, which I bridged once we got back on the bikes. But on the second section of sand, I just could not respond when he went again, and by the time I reached the line, I was six seconds off his pace for a second-place finish.