VeloCross race report

As usual, this was a pretty neat course given the flat venue. A little extra was added here and there to make it more interesting. The best part was absolutely gorgeous weather - sunny and 60s! The regular skinsuit was perfect. It was a great event with a beer tent, massages and other vendors. LGR did a great job!!

My race was typical of my 'cross season this year. Not wanting to get in anyone's way, I lined up at the back again. The start was a little longer than before, but still too short, and everyone got massively bunched up at the first corner. There were a lot more asphalt sections than in the past, so I had my tires inflated to 35 front and back. This proved to be too much. Right away there was a crash in the first lap ahead of my on one of the asphalt sections; not sure what happened there but apparently Frye hit a tree. Ouch!

In the velodrome there was a lot of crossing over the asphalt inner track, and there was a tight corner into some asphalt, and my bike slid right out from under me. The guy behind me plowed into me, but other than that it wasn't too bad. I apologized, and we both got up and going (after losing a few slots of course). I was pretty much off the back at that point, and the rest of the race would be a matter of picking off a few people. I moved up a bit so as not to be last, but not by much.

After the adrenaline wore off after the race, the nasty road rash on my leg started hurting. Fortunately there was free beer from Rush River Brewing to numb the pain. They had a really good Scotch Ale; yum! I wish I could have stuck around longer, but I was starting to scab over the grit and I needed to get it cleaned up properly. Thanks to Nate for having a bottle of water and a wash rag handy to help a bit.

Got home, made some hot chocolate with the espresso steamer, took a bath and cleaned out the leg, put on some Tegaderm and took a couple of Advil. Should be good as new before the State Championship next week!