The team did well out there with good rides by Jonathan with his 2nd place, Joel getting 18th, Alex top 25, and Raul holding his own in the Masters Elite.
Racers race entries below:
Category: 1/2/3 Masters Men 35+/45+
33 Gwadz Marc
48 Rojas Raul
61 Poochigian Brian
70 45+ Rogers John
Category: 3/4 Masters Men 35+
2 Seibold Jonathan
18 gwadz joel
54 twyman corey
71 Vannier Dave
74 Foley Joe
Category: 2/3/4 Men
21 Ebright Alex
87 Scardaville Michael
Marc G.
As the dutch like to say- “Een goed begin is het halve werk”
(a good start is half the work)
unfortunately, I had a crappy start (desptie my decent 3rd row starting
spot) and had to work twice as hard to try to make up for it! overall I
felt pretty good and passed a lot of people for a few laps. by the last
lap or so my legs were worn out and I lost back a few spots, settling
for 33rd.of ~ 90 in the elite masters.
I had a good time though- charm city is a great race, and with huge,
fast fields. it was fun to have a good number of guys racing.
Joel G.
My legs are tired… I am tired… it is hard to believe that a less than one hour effort on the bike could make a person so sore and so tired. Yesterday was what many consider to be the season opener for the 2009 Cyclocross Season in the Mid-Atlantic. Like so many others I approached the day with a flurry of excitement and anxiety. My arrival to Druid Hill Park offered just enough time to suit up, register, do a quick up and back on the road/half a lap pre-ride and then line up for the start. I was pleased with how the pre-registration gave me a slot in the third row My goal was to maintain my position at the finish It was a tough day on the bike with some drama with three laps to go. Even with a mid-race glitch I was able to achieve my goal which had me finish 18th our of 125 racers! YE HA! I have not finished that far up since back in the day when there were 25-40 racers.
John R.
My goal for the race was to keep the rubber side down and not get hurt, not get lapped, and not be DFL, in that order. Mission accomplished, but it was a wild ride. Each year I wonder why I do CC, given that it is not a MABRA race, and given my bad history of starts at CC. Every year the start at CC throws up something interesting. This year, someone else went through the tape in the prologue, yet I managed to get the tape wrapped around my tires, head tube, down tube and seat tube. It took about a minute to clear and I was completely DFL by at least 100 yds b/f I could get moving again. I tell the C-3 guy marshaling the course and looking upon me with pity that I didn’t even leave the course, he manages a consoling smile and shoulder shrug that somehow made me feel better. Anyhow, I’ve been in that position b/f at CC, so off we go.
I finally make my way back to the field, when I realize that I have no front brakes. Hmm…I touched every bolt last night…nevertheless, the cable hanger bolt slipped…ok…who needs brakes. Then I got to feeling pretty good, as my crossresults.com arch nemesis from B Masters a couple years back was just ahead. I spent a couple of laps chasing him, and actually managed to pass him once. Cool.
By this time though, the terrible sand from the sandpit was ready to take its toll, as a case of no-unclipulitus occured right before the barrier by the start/finish. Hmm, I think…voluntarily stack it or run into the barrier…Oh yeah, I’m moving while thinking this, and I end up splitting the difference with the dismount and ground surfing in a manner bringing laughter to those who saw it. Having brought mirth to the onlookers, I was thinking the gods might favor me…no…my shfiter had shifted position on the handlebar b/c of the wreck, caclunk, caclunk, caclunk…good-bye arch nemisis and group around him.
Oh well. on the last lap I spied a guy in a kit I didn’t recognize about 200 yds ahead and set off in search of him. I finally caught him on the asphalt climb and then pipped him at the line for 81st (or something like that–I have no idea where I finished)!!! Woo hoo!!!
Seriously though, I had a great time and I’m psyched for the start of the MABRA series.
I also think I’ll keep doing Elite Masters b/c I can sleep in and still race (a great thing since I have high schooler and am up at 5:30 every morning).
Finally, thanks to all the DCMTBers for cheering me on (way cool)!
Pooch
That was one strange start from row ten or so. I didn’t even hear a whistle. My goal was to simply finish higher than my starting position. I’ll make the assumption that there were 77 starters in front of me, plus another 20 or so behind. Things got moving quickly enough though, and I probably advanced 20 or so positions after the first few slow corners. Pre-riding definitely helped there. The dust was pretty overwhelming at times. Once we all got in line, to my surprise I could see Marc followed by Raul probably 5 seconds/positions ahead and thought that if I could maintain this pace, I’d be really happy. Well, that didn’t quite work out after I made the mistake of glancing at the “3 laps to go” sign. The Marc/Raul train was pulling away. Then Evan passed me, and I felt stronger for a few seconds… Then I just decided to try be silly and ride the sand pit – almost made it. It felt like less effort than running and didn’t cost any positions. Sometime late in the last two laps Joe Fritsch passed me and 13 others – talk about late race surge. Except for the final lap, I was pleased with my riding. My bike behaved nicely too. Think I finished 61st. I might dabble in the A Masters again.
Thanks to the mobs of DCMTB’ers out there who waited to the straglers came up to cheer for me. Darren your talk of the pain cave stuck with for nearly a lap!
