By Marc, Joel Gwadz and Darren
All the rain just put a different spin on Ed Sanders compared to the
dry, dusty 2007 campaign and didn’t cause any problems with the
general ride-ability of the course. my specialize tri-cross frame
was chosen in large part to avoid mud/grass buildup at races like ed
sanders (big clearance front and rear), and it worked great.
I got a front row call up as defending 35+ series winner and got a
good start, latching on to Mark Kutney’s wheel. Anthonhy von Lierop
worked his way up from somewhere back in the pack to take 2nd wheel,
and I made a decision not to try to match Kutney’s pace, which would
certainly be more than I could manage. About lap 2 as I sat somewhere
between the lead pair and a chase group, I slid out off my bike on the
2nd little drop in. I didn’t waste a lot of time, but a few seconds
and restart was enough to cost me several spots
although it is confusing to my near competitors who apparently know
how to ride a bike, I managed to mess this section up just about every
time, though I did my mess-ups differently each time to keep it
interesting. sliding out, falling, going left in weeds, right in
weeds- no bad method was left untried.
fortunately, I was feeling very strong on the flat sections that make
up most of the course, and was able to my way back past mike birner, a
cracked von lierop and finally dropped Chris Nystrum for good on the
last lap. Kutney was somewhere up the road out of sight, but I dangled
behind my crossreults.com arch nemeses randy root and bernie schiao. I
might have been only 10″ or so back, but was unable to close despite
my attempts on the last couple laps.
all in all a strong effort and a good start for the MABRA series. I
was 4th in the field, but 1st in 35+ – the other guys were 45+. so ,
maximum point in the 35+ subgroup, quirky though that might be.
Chris Clarke had a very strong showing – 8th overall in elite masters,
4th in 45+.
Mark Drajem, Raul, and myself were all lined up with the Masters B
we all raced pretty close together which made for an interesting race within the race
I worked hard to trail both Mark and Raul
eventually Drajem and I swapped spots
but I could not bridge the gap between Raul and myself
worked hard… but where I worked hard Raul must have been working hard too
because instead of me closing the gap Raul widened the margin
The B race was fast and furious and was a pretty packed field. Matty D represented DCMTB well had a strong first half and settled into his placing for the day. Darren had a bobble in the first lap, and then had a steady effort that didn’t make him DFL might as well have been in his book. He felt the effects of racing his second B race after racing the C’s last year.
In all turned out to be a good day to watch the races, and people were talking about DCCX even when they were at another cross race!