Laatste Ronde

Dear Reader,

This is the bottle of Delirium Tremens Noel that I bought before the start of cross season. I have been saving it for the final night of my season. That, dear reader was today.

Today was the last race of the Mid Atlantic Season for me. Solstice Cross in Emmaus, PA offered up an amazingly fun course. . I'll admit, I left home a little earlier than normal. I wanted to get to the venue to ride on a cross course one more time, and to take it all in. I wanted time to talk to the officials, and thank them. I wanted to follow my friends around warming up and gossip a bit. I wanted to see all my friends and peers, just one more time. Just one last time this year, I wanted to breath in all that is regional cross, and racing in the Mid Atlantic. It was wonderful. I am honored to be among you.

My race was less than spectacular. I was a hot mess the first two laps after blowing my start. I was driving really badly, losing ground and anytime I tried to stand on it a bit, I felt like I was losing ground. Kinda like that scene from the replacements:




"You're playing and you think everything is going fine. Then one thing goes wrong. And then another. And another. You try to fight back, but the harder you fight, the deeper you sink. Until you can't move... you can't breathe... because you're in over your head. Like quicksand. "

So yeah, I couldn't drive, and I couldn't throw any watts. HOT MESS. Finally, local Mr. Bowman came around me, and I followed him around. I figured out that while bunny hopping the barriers was super pro, it was slower. Slower isn't pro. I watched Bowman's lines, and then I stole them. My tyres still had too much pressure.

Announcer Dave Pryor encouraged the racers on, and called our group the group battling to be "PEOPLE'S CHAMPION". I smiled, and dug in for the final laps. Finally, I started to make the bike go. I felt like, you know I'm actually an okay bike driver. I worked through the group and Up the final straight I charged to the line, holding off a hard charging Mr. Bowman at the line, rolling across on flat front.

It was that kind of day.

It was the most fun I have had in a race going horribly wrong. So yeah, I'm kinda stoked tonight...

I dilly dallied around in the parking lot talking to friends, and sharing stories from the day.  I knew I needed to get on the road, but I wanted one last moment to breath all this in....

Thank you Mid Atlantic Cyclocross.

God Speed and see you in three weeks Asheville.

respect
fatmarc