2008 Cyclocross Championships - Day 1 Report

Men's 40+ B class was held today. As I lined up I saw a lot of Cat 2 riders. Darn Sandbaggers....

I lined up in the 7th row which put me just around a 60th place start. There were over a 100 riders signed up. Luckily it was not that cold today and the long wait to start was actually pleasant compared to last year. As we waited the last 60 seconds before the start, I was just hoping that no one would tangle their bars and crash on the starting straight. The first 50 yards of the start was clean then someone tangled on the left of me and went down causing several others to crash. I got out clean, but my position left me on the inside of the first turn which was a slimy mess. I remember Tige (who got 4th today) telling me to take the outside of the corners because the insides were just too slow. The first couple of corners were very nerve racking and caused me to ride very tense as riders kept crashing and bumping into me. On the first climb things started to spread out some. This was only good for everyone else as with my present form I am climbing very poorly. I think I got passed by 10 riders on the first trip up the hillside. I tried to keep positive and relax on the way down, but I was just not flowing very well. I did pick off some riders on the way back down the hill. Especially in the turns. But those same guys would pass me back on the way up. You get the point. 45 minutes later I finished in about the same place I started - 66th place. At least I did not get lapped by the Sandbagger Cat 2's up front :-)

Here are some pictures Carolynn took.