9/16 - Valmont CX

It's cross season!  That means racing every weekend locally starting at the Valmont bike park last weekend.  Last season I started out with CX and loved it, did a bunch of races, moved from CAT 4 to 3.  This season the goal is to increase my skills and place in the CAT 3 races through the season.  The CX races in CO have updated the start times this year, meaning my races start at 9:45 or so, this is much better than 3 PM like last year.
Valmont is a bike park here in Boulder with tons of jumps, skills parks, and trails.  They also are setup to host CX races, 2014 will be the national champs.  It is a tough course each lap has 2 sets of stairs and 2 sand boxes.  The field was a decent size and everyone was ready for the first race of the season.  I started pretty much in the last row with no call up.  I got caught up in a crash in the first sandbox with a group of guys, when I picked up my bike I realized I was dragging someone else bike too.  The first few laps I just tried to stay out of trouble and get past the main field.  I made it to about 12th place or so by the last two laps, and passed a few more to place 9th by the end.  We were supposed to race 50 mins, but it was only 40 mins this time.  I feel I should of pushed a little harder in the middle, but its the first race I needed to get my CX pants on.

CAT 3 - 9th place

The best part of the day was the pre-jr race, we had two competitors from our family, Riley 9 and Corrie 6.  Usually the jr course is cut a little short to make it easier, but not here they did a full lap.  I rode with Corrie and helped her carry her bike through the sand, up the stairs, and over the barriers.  Riley only needed assistance from Shanon on the stairs, and ended up taking 1st for the girls.  But the 2nd place girl was hot on her tail.  Corrie did great too, and was in the middle of the pack of older kids.
Looks like the kiddos will be coming to more CX races if they know that they can race too!