cash to go another round

This past weekend represented my cyclocross season opener and I chose wisely. Selecting to wait until the latter half of October has been normal for me as I favor the cooler weather and love when the leaves fall to crunch 'em under the tires. Plus, the smells just add to what this transitional racing is all about!

Saturday's location brought us to Baker Orchard in Centuria, WI. The scene was great, complete w/a bonfire, grilling hotdogs, & everything apple. Now for the course, the ground was a tacky mixture of soil, wood chips, and grass that retained a lot of moisture but no spray off the rear tire. It would call for moving slower but working harder and this is on my wish list every time. Many bumps like you'd find when a field needs to be aerated were prevalent and the director helped us out by painting elevated roots blaze orange for easy sight. Lastly, the route went thru a historic 100-year-old barn giving the atmosphere a bonus. All of these conditions made it so riders could enter corners pretty hot by only feathering the brakes lightly. I had a decent start and was holding fourth position for most of the race knowing that they paid three deep. Each lap I saw those in front of me as we rolled along this fence to make a 180-degree turn at the end post and return on the other side while giving chase. Bridging the gap enough to make a do or die move right before the bell lap I found myself in third and just had to hope it would stick.....and it did!! My usual nemesis, Jay "Hollywood" Henderson would take the win but I now had Sunday's entry fee in hand.

Speaking of which, the YMCA in Hudson, WI is where everyone had to regroup for another battle after a good night's rest. Acreage was limited @ this venue which made for a totally different course layout. Stakes and ribbon were so abundant it made you dizzy and spray paint was on the ground to help make sure riders didn't miss an approaching turn. The surface was nothing but firm grass and dry. If you got the holeshot and had skills to navigate the chicanes or power to accelerate constantly then you were golden. I didn't have the former as I missed clipping into a pedal off the line and this bobble had me behind the congestion in the first left hand corner. Following this incident, I had to weave my way thru traffic only to be stopped by "Hollywood" when he rolled his front tire right in front of me prior to a pair barriers. Sometimes lady luck isn't on your side and realize I just got dealt a bad card. Otherwise, I held on for 4th place and just out of the money.