Boss Cross #1

So it's been a little quiet on this blog lately. Partly because I haven't really been getting too many races in and partly because there hasn't been much interesting to report. This weekend will change that...

Today was the first Boss Cross race held at the Riverside venue. Honestly, I was a little disappointed because I thought it would be at Parkville. I really like Parkville. At Riverside in 2007 or 2008, I sucked, so I don't quite have a positive view of it. Nonetheless, I was ready to get a good day of racing in. Physically, I didn't feel super before the race, but mentally I was good to go.

The course was fairly similar to the previous time I did it. Maybe technically a little simpler because of the absence of the hill run up and no stairs cut into the section down by the river. The sand was set up differently with us crossing it short ways but the entry was on a turn so no speed.

The field was BIG! Lots of upgrades, I hope those who had their first go in the Open field felt it was worth it! It was a strong field with the Columbia Wrecking Crew in attendance. There was also a full contingent of the Tradewind guys. Steve had problems last week, but I wasn't counting him out for today. The course looked good for Brian Jensen with some decent straightaways and a fairly stiff wind.

My strategy was to let the race develop and not get too involved with pacemaking in the early laps. I figured if I had any cards to play I'd do so in the last couple of laps. No such luck. My plan was foiled when I stacked it up in the sand on the 3rd lap. As a result my rear brake got all messed up and wouldn't disengage. I stopped a couple times trying to get it sorted out. Meanwhile the head of the race was riding away. I'm told I was back at least a minute and back around 20th. Maybe so, whatever it was it wasn't looking good.

I didn't panic and just figured I'd put in a good effort and see how much ground I could make up. I settled into a hard rhythm and started moving from group to group. I knew I had about 5 laps to make up ground so I didn't go Hogg-wild. I just tried to ride error free and push hard on the open sections. It seemed to be working because I was starting to see the two lead groups in front of me on course. Long story short, I ended up catching Brian Jensen near the end of the penultimate lap. He was leading with a 5-10 sec gap over Josh Johnson, Jon Schottler, and Tom Price. On the last lap I was able to get a little gap and hold it to the finish. I guess the moral of this story is don't ever stop riding hard, you never know whether you will ride back into the race. Also, you probably need the race effort anyway, so get to it.

As payback for my efforts, I have the honor of donning the "General Lee" points leader jersey. I'll try to do the Duke boys proud tomorrow!

See ya there....