Carolina Cross
I apologize for the late report. Turkey day consumed me for a week.
Basically, I flew to North Carolina to visit some friends, race some cross, and drink what the local breweries had to offer. I arrived at the airport and so did my bike. Good. Good. As I was on my way to the rental car counter I see Half Wheel Mike (2004 Voodoo/Drunkcyclist Alumni now graduated to the Carolina Kona CX team). He's alone and waiting 5 hours for his ride to arrive. Bummer.
He's got a double bike bag but I offer him a spot in my car if we can fit it all. The Thrifty agent thought we were crazy wanting to fit this double bike bag, a bike hardcase, 3 bags, and 2 weekend cross warriors into the economical Dodge Neon. The agent didn't even let us try. He upgraded us to the STATUS. Now aint that special.
We stuffed it all in and two hours later we are in Asheville, NC.
Half wheel Mike just stayed with me for the weekend at the Izzards. Good friends with a 7 week old baby. They warned us but I had no idea how much babies cry. Now she's a beautiful little girl with a set of lungs on her. I can say that birth control is a good thing for me right now----good luck to you know who. Actually, it wasn't bad as I thought it would be. I slept like a baby especially with the drop in elevation.
Day 1---Pancakes and Smoothies was the call for the pre race meal. The day was a cool 50 degrees with gray skies. The course was awesome. Very freeflowing grass and non technical----totally opposite from Colorado. No problem. They call up all of the racers with UCI Points, NC series points, and Georgia series points. What about Colorado and the other 46 states? By that time I accepted my fate of starting in the back. After a bad start, it took me about 20 minutes to catch the lead group of 8. Then the race was like a crit with attacks and no one wanting to work. With two to go, we had 8 of us left and I started to fall apart. No explanation but with 500m to go, I could not accelerate and placed 8th. Jon Hamblin rode well and won by 25 seconds.
Day2---More Pancakes and more flat legs. I got a better start and made the lead group right away but who didn't with no technical aspects of the course. I'm not complaining. I love the change of pace. With 3 to go, I got dropped. With one to go, I barely climbed back on and positioned myself well. Except there was a small climb near the end. It was bad. My left leg sputtered. My right leg backfired. And them both of them blew. I got 9th out of 9.
You can call what you want but I got my ass kicked. Hard to swallow but I'll be back for more. Half wheel mike faired no better with a couple of 14ers. Great course and the announcer somehow dug up some dirt on me. MMMMMMmmmmm?
So I had some DC fans there with their cowbells and beers in the pit. Even DJ Birch showed up out of the woods. That night we sampled many of Asheville bars and beers. I'll have to return.
Basically, I flew to North Carolina to visit some friends, race some cross, and drink what the local breweries had to offer. I arrived at the airport and so did my bike. Good. Good. As I was on my way to the rental car counter I see Half Wheel Mike (2004 Voodoo/Drunkcyclist Alumni now graduated to the Carolina Kona CX team). He's alone and waiting 5 hours for his ride to arrive. Bummer.
He's got a double bike bag but I offer him a spot in my car if we can fit it all. The Thrifty agent thought we were crazy wanting to fit this double bike bag, a bike hardcase, 3 bags, and 2 weekend cross warriors into the economical Dodge Neon. The agent didn't even let us try. He upgraded us to the STATUS. Now aint that special.
We stuffed it all in and two hours later we are in Asheville, NC.
Half wheel Mike just stayed with me for the weekend at the Izzards. Good friends with a 7 week old baby. They warned us but I had no idea how much babies cry. Now she's a beautiful little girl with a set of lungs on her. I can say that birth control is a good thing for me right now----good luck to you know who. Actually, it wasn't bad as I thought it would be. I slept like a baby especially with the drop in elevation.
Day 1---Pancakes and Smoothies was the call for the pre race meal. The day was a cool 50 degrees with gray skies. The course was awesome. Very freeflowing grass and non technical----totally opposite from Colorado. No problem. They call up all of the racers with UCI Points, NC series points, and Georgia series points. What about Colorado and the other 46 states? By that time I accepted my fate of starting in the back. After a bad start, it took me about 20 minutes to catch the lead group of 8. Then the race was like a crit with attacks and no one wanting to work. With two to go, we had 8 of us left and I started to fall apart. No explanation but with 500m to go, I could not accelerate and placed 8th. Jon Hamblin rode well and won by 25 seconds.
Day2---More Pancakes and more flat legs. I got a better start and made the lead group right away but who didn't with no technical aspects of the course. I'm not complaining. I love the change of pace. With 3 to go, I got dropped. With one to go, I barely climbed back on and positioned myself well. Except there was a small climb near the end. It was bad. My left leg sputtered. My right leg backfired. And them both of them blew. I got 9th out of 9.
You can call what you want but I got my ass kicked. Hard to swallow but I'll be back for more. Half wheel mike faired no better with a couple of 14ers. Great course and the announcer somehow dug up some dirt on me. MMMMMMmmmmm?
So I had some DC fans there with their cowbells and beers in the pit. Even DJ Birch showed up out of the woods. That night we sampled many of Asheville bars and beers. I'll have to return.
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