The weather gods must have something against Kansas City hosting the cyclocross championship. Just like in 2000, racers were greeted today with snow, cold weather and an ice rink for a course. I like Thursday's condition much better than todays for sure.After a short warm-up to go watch my teammate Tige Lamb out on the course, I went back to the van to finish my pre-race warm-up. My feet were frozen so I opted to race with my Lake winter shoes. A good choice as it turned out. Unlike my upper body, my feet remained toasty warm.
I had about a 9th row starting spot which put me about mid-pack. I stayed upright for the first lap picking off riders has they either crashed or had troubles in the slick spots. I was running my Ritchey tires around 29 psi and they were hooking up very well. I was actually very impressed with them. I was having trouble on the up hill spots, but seemed to do well in the downhill sections and turns. At the end of the first lap I was just outside the top 50. Not bad with over 163 competitors in the Male 40-44 class.
It was nice to hear a lot of supporters. I could hear them cheering me on. Thanks to my wife Carolynn, son Christopher, Tige, Gerard, Brian, Rich and all the others for helping be get 54th place. I really needed everyone's support today. The only disappointment was having the race winner James Coats pass me at the line and putting me 1 lap down.
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