My day was short lived with lots of ups and downs. I lined up in the 45 - 49 masters class. My goal was a podium spot if I really had a great day, but honestly I would have been happy with a top 5......I started in 4th and moved into the lead by the 3rd turn. The pace felt somewhat slow so I just powered by everyone. On the first short uphill climb I lost all traction and fell back to 4th. I knew the race was going to be a long one so I just kept the effort high and tried not to loose too much time on the uphill climbs. I felt good on the flats and the descent on the slick corners which allowed me to make up some time there. This only lasted a couple of laps because I ended up cooking a corner and going down hard on the technical section before the finish. I got up with a bent shifter and had to take some time to straighten it out. Once I got going I actually felt really good and put the hammer down. I shifted once and the end result is below. I wadded up the rear derailleur really good. End result was my first ever DNF in a cyclocross race.
Dave had a solid day and rode very well in his first road trip in awhile. Next year we will have to do a little more traveling to get more "seasoned" for some better cross results.
Christopher lined up with 7 juniors. This would be his last cyclocross race as a junior. Would he go out on top and make it 7 wins in a row this year or would his lack of consistent training this fall (and not following his coaches/fathers training plan) come back to bite him in his ass.
Three of the juniors were really strong and have been racing the Bubba Cross series in St. Louis. I told Christopher that he was going to have his hands full and to do the best he could. Forget the past couple of months and just lay it on the line today.
He settled into third place after the first section of the course. He looked smooth but so did the other juniors and they sure did climb a lot better than Christopher. They attacked the first couple of climbs very hard.
Tyler and Christopher proceeded to have a great battle over the next several laps. It was very nerve racking for me to say the least. Some good exciting racing which is one of the reasons I like to come out to cross races. But to watch your son engaged in a battle is another thing.
At one point Christopher had a managable gap on Tyler. With Two laps to go I honestly thought he was going to pull off an upset.
I could tell Christopher was at his limit and his body position was falling apart. A little mistake in a corner and Christopher was down. I about crapped my pants when he was slow to get up. I thought he was injured but he got going. The damage was done however. Tyler pounced on Christopher like a tiger on a wounded deer.
At the end of the day Christopher put in his best effort which I can only be proud of. On the way home we went over the day. He said one interesting quote to me. "For me that was one of my best races. I battled with the other juniors and even though I did not win I tried and feel good about my race".
Some photos I took during the weekend: 2012 Missouri State Cyclocross Photo Album
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