12/15/12 - CX of the North - State Champs

The last race of my 2012 CX season this year was mid December and the state championships in Loveland CO, since I just moved to CAT 2 I decided to race 35+ 1/2 on Saturday.  I had not been to the state champs in CO before and did not know what to expect.  It was dry and in the 30's at our 8:30 start time, we were the first group to start for the weekend.  The course did not disappoint, it was super fun, with a lot of tight turns, some straight sections, a huge jump, barriers, and a super steep run up.  I had a goat head puncture my rear tire right prior to the start, got it fixed and headed to the start line, this has become routine for me by now and I gave it little thought.  Though my rear tire had a little too much air I noticed after the start.  I had to start almost dead last in a field of almost 50 guys.  The first few twisty sections of the course really got jammed up and we lost a lot of time over the leaders.  Either way I was out to have fun not win this race, I battled with a few guys the first few laps and ended up in a group of 5 or so.  The course was really great, I choose to ride the run up at full speed and dismount mid flight, I almost fell backwards a few times, but that was the fastest way up.  Others dismounted at the bottom and ran it.  The huge jump was tough not to get air on, and sketchy when I got tired, but I managed to stay on the bike the entire course each lap, except the barriers and the run up.  The leaders were a few minutes in front of me, and the guy behind me was from the 35+ CAT 3 group that started 30 sec behind our group.  I pushed hard to not let him pass me and I think it helped him gap his 2nd place guy.  Either way I passed 3 of the 5 guys I was with and did not let the CAT 3 guy catch me.  Finished 32nd out of 41, does not sound great, but these guys are all CAT 1/2 mainly CX racers.  Little do they know I am a triathlete, ha ha, I am sure some of them road race as well.  But racing with them only gives me motivation for next season. This CX season was great 13 races, moved from CAT 3 to CAT 2, but most of all had fun doing it and with a little luck improved my bike handling skills and gained some fitness for triathlon and road racing in 2013.  Now for some time off over the holidays and back at it come January.  Sorry no pics, remember my photographer is a fair weather CX spectator.