Fort Ritchie CX Race (1st Place - Cat 5 & 17th of 38 - Cat 4/5 Men)

I was up at 4:30am, and since I had everything packed and ready to go the night before, I had some oatmeal, said "see you soon" to the wife, and I was out the door by 5:00 am. The 1.5 hour drive was tiresome, but thanks to the reviving sounds of Disco, Techno, and the occasional Dubstep song I was able to make it to Ft. Ritchie intact, not to mention really early. When I got there I prepped my bike (30/35 with tubes on my Sammy Slicks) and took the time to just ride around the course to see why it was so bumpy, and thanks to another racer's advice (he was from Carlisle, my old hometown) I was able to find some great lines on the course. Around 8am I met up with Austin and TJ and passed along the information I knew and recommended that the only hill climb in the course should be a "riding to run" attack. 

By 8:10 we were all lined up for the Cat 5 race and ready to go and then the gun went off. I took Tony's words to heart and didn't blow up on my first lap, so I just hung on to a wheel of the guy in front of me. My dismounts were smooth and my straight-aways were fast, and when I got to the parking lot to hill climb section I put the hammer down, ride/ran the hill, and bumped myself from sixth to third place. After that I hung on to the second place guy till about the wasboard bumps and then I attacked and took them both for the lead. I held the lead for the second lap only to loose it at the top of the cantered hill turn, I just lost grip on the tires and went down and the second place guy came right up on me. In the heat of the moment I hopped back on and was off like a bat out of hell. I kept about a solid 20 feet from him on the third lap but I couldn't seem to grab his tire, I was also starting to tire out here. Nearing the end of the third lap my luck changed and right where the tree line straight aways the leader's tire pinched flat, and I took my chance to move out. I hammered it again realizing that there was no one behind me for a solid 30-45 seconds after I crossed the finish line. I took 1st place with a time of 28:04.00.

The AFC Crash-5 Team... Austin (left) and TJ (right).

My second race (Cat 4/5 Men) was a little more crowded and since I was already beat from my first race and taking photos all day I did what I could with what reserves I had left. Same rules as before applied... don't blow up, keep on a wheel, fast on the straights, smooth on the turns, and don't finish last. I knew the course fairly well except this time it was way more dusty and I felt my tire slip from time to time. I raced hard, I kept a solid pace, passed everyone I could, and rode up the hill climb each time (instead of running it). I held my ground for the 45 minuets of racing and only one person passed me, nearing the end I again dropped the hammer and finished strong. I circled back to cheer on the remaining racers to the finish line. 

The sad part of my day... driving home after doing two races...