Nationals

A list of un-pro things I did in the 24 hours before the race:
1. Didn't ride the bike I was racing until the day of the race.
2. Signed up for the SS race despite never having raced CX on one before.
3. Got to KC later than desired and didn't get to preride on Saturday.
4. Drank too many beers the night before.
5. Didn't go to sleep early enough while waiting for the DB and RB express to arrive and then did not sleep for shit when I went to bed.
6. Had an abbreviated warm up of one lap plus some spinning around.
6. Thought that we would be staged in order of registration only to find myself on the very back row of the starting grid.
8. Rode a bike that was a size too small with these brake levers:


Despite all of this, I had a decent race and lots of fun despite the pain and exhaustion. I managed to move up a bit before the pavement ended and avoided the near immediate crash. From there I just ground my way up the hill trying to stay steady. It was a really weird race for me. The course, as you may have read, involved a lot of climbing. It felt like at least three quarters of the lap were spent grinding away uphill with my back on the verge of seizing. As such, it was impossible for me to do anything but kept a steady pace that was the hardest I could sustain and acceleration was never an option. It worked out ok as I picked people off consistently throughout the race. I went back and forth with this guy for most of the second half of the race before finally dropping him on the climb on the last lap. I ended up 27th out of 82 starters and 55 finishers on the same lap as the winner. I guess I'm satisfied with that. Could I have done better? Probably, but I resolved to do this race for fun and that's what happened. Still, it's hard not to think about the what ifs, but I made the decisions I made and the result is what it is. It was pretty cool to know I was racing the same course as the big boys and it was awesome having the groggy St. Louis crew out cheering before dawn. Thanks guys, it meant a lot that you were there for us. After the race, we went back to the hotel to clean up and get some tub time in before heading back to watch the pros. It had dropped nearly thirty degrees in temperature and we froze while watching the pros and these fools tear up the course. It was an amazing experience and I'm glad I got to share it with my wife and my friends. It'll be kind of hard to go to Bend next year, so this was truly special. As I've stated repeatedly, this CX season was the most fun I've ever had in cycling and it's due in large part to the people I got to share it with. This is hands down the best discipline in cycling and I can't wait to see what next year holds. Now it's time for a break and some thoughts about how I'm going to spend the next ten months. Thanks to everyone for the support and to all who helped make it happen, it was the best. Ever.
Here are some photos Lizz took of the race: