I was hesitant to move up to Cat 3 earlier this year after doing well in the 4’s. And then after I did, I became disappointed with how far back I was finishing from the leaders. But no longer, I finally cracked into a top ten finish in the 3’s. Tenth is in the top ten.

What a great course this week in Northbrook, technical and a little messy. And another great turnout for our team, thanks to everyone who showed up just for the support.

Getting to the starting line early is not a worry anymore because of the call-ups. It is nice to know that I will get a front line start with fellow teammates Brian Parker and Greg Heck. My start this week was not as fast as I may have liked it because of the shoulder bumping, but it was good to see Parker get the hole shot. I was sitting fourth wheel into the first technical section and came out third wheel. Soon after I hear Greg yelling that he is coming up and to stay with him. It always nice to have people cheering and giving support from the sidelines, but it is ten times better if it is coming from a teammate who is in the race with you. More to come on this topic. Greg and I got to the first stair climb together and then took two totally different lines on the switch back down the hill. Greg took the inside of every turn where I went really wide and used the burm to help with traction in the turn and keep the speed up. I came out ahead but only to be passsed again by him. I was able to stay with Greg for the first lap with all his encouragement but could feel myself burning out. I was very excited to be this close to the leaders after a whole lap, but was really starting to hurt. I remember Greg and Parker telling me about the race strategies of cyclocross and how it differs from crit racing. The start of a cyclocross race is like the finish of a crit. You have to get out fast so you don’t get stuck behind in traffic, and hold on for as long as you can. So I am hanging on after the first lap in sixth.

Soon after the first lap Greg pulled away from me because I do not have the strength or power to keep up that pace in the open sections. I turn around to see what kind of gap is behind me and try to figure out how to hold off the charging group. I was able to maintain the gap through the two stair climbs but made a big mistake on the asphalt right after the downhill. I am still trying to figure out why I thought about using the stiff arming and stiff leg through a tight wet turn with a lot of mud on the side of my tires. I guess I just wanted to go fast. Well that did not happen because I bit it. I picked the bike up and by the time I got back up to speed I watched three riders go by. I was not too pleased but that is racing. I could see my goal of a top ten slipping away. But then comes the next big motivator, Jacques. As much as I did not want Jacques to get around me, he was a great help for the rest of the race. He started yelling from a good distance away and he would not stop. Even when he passed me he kept yelling back at me to keep up. He was not just yelling at me but also at Jeff Watt and Devon Haskell. This I did not like as much because they keep finishing just in front of me at every race they are in. So I continue to fight, hang on, draft, or what ever to stay with the three.

Over the next two laps we continue to flip flop positions thanks to the down hills and technical sections around the trees, and Jacques yelling all the time. How can he yell so much when I can’t catch my breath? And on the last lap Jacques pulls away from us. Now what am I suppose to do? My biggest motivator is leaving. RACE!! That is what I a m suppose to do. Over the last couple of races I had found myself just maintaining my position towards the end of the race. With the bigger gaps it is tough to race someone when they are not there. You just keep the same distance between the rider in front of you and behind you and settle for that place. But this race was different with Jacques keeping me going in the middle of the race when I am hurting the most, it was now time to put a little hurt on Devon and Jeff. I know they were getting irritated that I would catch them at the run-ups, but now I needed to get a gap so I could hold em off at the finish. I attacked just before the mud going into the last set of stairs and got around Jeff and had enough speed going through to it to catch back up to Devon on the stairs. I bombed the downhill, sliding just slightly sideways all the way down, came into the corner calmly and stood up and tried to hit it again on the asphalt. This is the spot where they had passed me a couple of times and I needed to keep them behind me so they would not slow me up in the technical section. I must have stood up three times in that short section because I keep sitting down from being tired. But there I was in front of them and I continued to stand up and sprint out of every turn. It hurt and at the same time felt good. Explain that one?

In the last couple of turns by the finish, I could hear Guy Graves yelling as he had done every time I came through that section. I t was good to have him and the whole team there yelling to get me through to the end. I was definitely at my limit there. I took each turn wide to help maintain the speed and then looked back around the last turn and to my relief I could ease up because I held them off. I crossed the line, sat up to catch my breath, and then congratulated Devon and Jeff on a good race. I felt great and started to laugh when Jeff said he hated me, because he was sick off not being able to lose me. It is nice that I am starting to get into this community of bicycle racers and able to experience that camaraderie between the racers. But now there is no time to be sentimental, as I have to find a tree. I never make it to a tree as the process starts while I am still moving on the bike. And when I stop I realize I am doing it into the wind. Still mounted on the bike I adjust my position with the wind in the open field and finish expelling any contents from my stomach enjoying the moment knowing that raced and raced hard today. Thanks Jacques. Reaching goals makes in all worthwhile, no matter how small they may be. And when you add them up, now that’s fun.

Thanks to everyone who helped set this race up, organizers, promoters and Northbrook. What a great race and venue. I think this is the one of the best courses of the year. Thanks for the pictures and support from Nikki and Jane, our xXx Fans. What a great day with the team too, the tent, the cooking, the bells and the big turnout. This is cyclocross. Thanks to a great team with a ton of support. And now I have to wash the goose stuff off my bike and wait for the excitement to happen again next Sunday.