Coming into this race, I wasn't quite as focused as I would have liked to have been. My Dad and I drove back from my cousin's wedding the night before. We left Albemarle at 8p and drove till we hit North Richmond at just after midnight. We stopped and slept (or he did, I couldn't because of the snoring) at a Super 8, then got up at 6a and drove home. I threw my bikes in the back of the truck and loaded up the rest and we drove North even further to Lilypons Water Gardens.

We were perfectly on time, so I was able to show Dad the pits and register before riding the course a couple times. I chatted with Morgan Gerlak for most of the first go round, and I was pretty sure this course wasn't going to favor me the way a dry and fast course like Charm City did. It had rained the night before just enough to make things fairly muddy. It wasn't mud like last year's Hagerstown where it was hard just to walk in it, but it was bad enough, that I needed skills.

I warmed up on the road since Jess has my trainer up in Pittsburgh. Jordan, Ryan, and I rod out and back along Lilypons Rd. and I must say that you'll be hard pressed to find a better place to ride. The surfaces are silky smooth and there's a huge shoulder that's almost a designated bike lane. I did a few hard efforts and one start before heading back down and dropping off some stuff with my Dad. I made the last minute decision to keep the glasses on and that was a good call, because otherwise I would have had mud in my eyes.

(Pictures Courtesy of Michael Kirk)

The start was pretty neat because I had the honor of first callup due to my win last week. Todd followed, then Marc, Morgan, and the rest of the contenders. Very cool. The then proceeded to hold us for five minutes for no real good reason. I swear, if they ever did that in a running race and actually expected you to stand still, we'd revolt. But in cycling, they do it all the time. When the whistle blew, I missed my pedal at first, but got it on the second go round and had to wait in line to make the first turn. My start was plenty adequate though and I was in the top ten after the first set of barriers.


The course was exactly the same as last year, with basically four "sections" in my mind. The first is out around the ponds, with the barriers being at the beginning. It's fast, but has quite a bit of switchbacks that slow you down. The second is the long gravel road, which this year was blazing fast. The third is the notorious (for me) run up and steep downhill followed by a steep uphill, a gnarly downhill and then a series of punchy hills. The final section is the downhill back to the start along with a small gravel pit and then the finishing straight past the store. I knew I'd have to own the gravel section and try not to give back too much on the third section.


Coming into the gravel the first time, I was probably in eigth or so and I wanted to move up. So I punched it pretty hard and passed everyone. They were all in single file on the right side, so I just took the left lane and just like that I was in first. It felt great. I wasn't overextending myself and I had gained eight places in a matter of seconds. But when we got to the short run up, I bungled it all away. I chickened out, or stumbled or something and didn't get down the hill fast enough. When we finally finished that third sector, I was right back behind all those guys it seemed. And unfortunately, that would be a microcosm of the day.


Somewhere in the next couple laps, Morgan and Todd built up a lead and I had to concede that I wasn't going to win today. I was getting frustrated that I remained in around the fifth spot and had plenty of folks on my rear trying to pass me. Each time around, I tried to get some rhythm around the ponds, but I felt so slow there. The ground was a bit tacky on the tires and my legs didn't put out the power I needed to be smooth there. The switchbacks killed my momentum because of the narrow passages and I don't feel like I rode that sector well in all of the five times we did it.

But fortunately, I could rest my laurels on the second sector of the gravel. Every single time I hit that, I would stand and hammer as best I could. Only once did I not go full bore--and that was when I was trying to draft off of Steve Fife. I eventually had to go around him and battle the wind.

That third sector gave me fits and really dictated my race no matter what I tried. After doing so poorly on the first go round, I tried to speed up the quick remount and descend, but I never felt comfortable. The hills after that would have been perfect for me had they been dry, but I couldn't ever figure out the best way to ride them. If I stood at the wrong spot, my back tire slipped and I couldn't keep my speed very high. If I sat, I wasn't able to make it to the top. Mike O'Hara actually ran one of the hills and I contemplated following suit, but I felt like it would cost too much time, so I kept riding.


With around two laps to go, I could hear the announcer saying that Morgan had fallen off and was coming apart. That meant Todd had the race sealed up. In front of me then were Marc, Morgan, and an NCVC rider (Rob Campbell). Nipping at my heels were Nystrom and O'Hara. I was desperate to move up and I told myself I had to absolutely bury everything in the gravel. I just couldn't do it enough, or Nystrom and O'Hara could hang, but after another horrid outing in sector three, they actually passed me on the final uphill before sector four, the long downhill back to the store. I was pretty frustrated at that point that I was moving backwards despite my best efforts and I made sure I got those two places right back on the downhill. I passed Nystrom early and then got by O'Hara at pretty high speed.


The last lap was me trying even more desperately to catch Morgan and Campbell. I could finally see them up ahead and when we hit the gravel, I was digging so very deep to make up the ground. I just couldn't quite do it there, but I told myself if I could only ride sector three well, just once, I'd have a shot. Well, I felt as though I rode it the best I had all day, but when I emerged and hit the downhill back to the start, I should have known it was over. I didn't though, and hammered as hard as I could through the mud in the hopes that I could get close enough before the final sprint. I have a lot of confidence in my finishing sprint in 'cross. It's about as close to the kick in the mile as I've found in cycling and I love it. But when I came around the building and saw the finish, Rob was already having his way with the kid. I looked back to make sure O'Hara wasn't close and then sat up. I finished in fifth. Top seven were: Hesel, Vettori, Campbell, Gerlak, Me, O'Hara, Nystrom.

I was disappointed with how the race went. While I knew the conditions would play a role, I hadn't expected to lose so much time. I got in a hole early and never had the skills to get out of it. I was constantly being aggressive and racing, but I didn't have much to show for it except for holding my spot. I think the guys up front have a bit more MTB experience and today it helped a lot. I could have easily wound up seventh or eighth, so I'm at least pleased that my off race wasn't a catastrophe. But with the bar now set so high from my first win, I'm not going to be pleased with fifth. I felt as though with one more lap I would have been third. I did make up ground on the Campbell-Gerlak pair in the final lap, but I had too much to get back. I was frustrated also because I never reached the cracking point the way we did at Charm City. My fitness wasn't the limiting factor in the end, but rather my position and my handling.

I dropped out of the series lead since Todd won. I'm eight points out of first and seven points up from third (Vettori). I'm going to have to get back on the higher steps of the podium to make that back and have Hesel have a day like I had. The series is one quarter over, so there's time. More interestingly is that Nick Bax, who was supposed to be in our race (and whom I picked to win) opted for the A race. And uh, he was fourth! So I guess, he's done with us. We didn't really get much of a crack at him, but he outclassed us with a great race nonetheless.