I had Luke with me, so I didn't get a chance to pre-ride the course. However, we did some time on the trainer warming-up. The big local bike blog writer was hanging in front of our tent, so I made an effort to strike up alittle conversation. He was doing a story on the race teams that do the Crusade. Luke was the highlight of the story! Check it out at BikePortland.
I haven't cracked the top 18 yet to acquire a call-up. The line-up after that is based on a random number draw. I got lucky and was the 2nd group, so I was toward the front with a great position. Unfortunately, my start lap was TERRIBLE. Probably the combination of no pre-ride and 1st time on mud this year. I fell backwards pretty quickly. A couple of my team-mates that started behind me caught me and I was chasing on the 2nd lap.
I was accelerating out of the corners too soon and did the serious slip-n-slide. As caught on film below. Horizontal is not a good position for bike racing!
photo by pdxcross.com
Things finally started to settle down for me on the 2nd lap or so. I started closing gaps on the straight aways and started passing folks. The power was in my legs and I needed it to catch-up. I made good progress and caught back up to my nemesis, Ken, who started in the same group as me. We went back/forth the last couple laps. Unfortunately, I pulled my last stunt on the last lap and he passed me as I fell directly in front of him.
Key takeaways from the race for me: 1) I have the fitness and the mental strength to fight back. I got back up and kept on charging after 4-5 falls. I was happy with myself not giving up. 2) I've been sick the last three weeks and avoiding the VO2 intervals. I definitely felt it as my legs cramped up the last couple laps. Especially felt it when I dismounted and ran the barriers. 3) Need to keep in control in the corners. Lost WAY to much time on the groun
Fantastic, fun, big grin on the face type of race. Let the rain, mud, and fun continue.
photo by Victor Duong
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