BC Cup

plan on doing a full update on the blog, but here are the highlights.
First off the course was amazing! The orangizers put up an amazing course. Better than anything I have raced. The elements included 2 volleyball sandpits, a bmx track, off camber grass, at staircase, some wide single track.
First they corall us up for the B men and tell us that the call up will be based on the sign in, not the results from the last BC CUP. That is dumb, I only say that because for the last 4 years it has been based on points. So much for my 6th place at the first BC cup. Too much trouble for what I assume most commasaires think is just lowley cross. I get lined up in the fourth row. Oh well need to make the best of it. Guys are riding everywhere. Trying really hard to keep their nice starting spot, so it is a bit chaotic. We hit the staircase that foreced us to either remount on pavement and negotiate the curb without your feet clipped in or to run up a small grassy rise after the pavement. I choose the later and when I remount on the slight downhill grass I my bike slides right out from under me mid air. Wow! The front wheel just came out form under me and I did a superman on the ground. WTF. I get up hop back on and I am dead last. I think there was 48 in front of me. I get by a few guys before the sandpit and most people that I can see are running, but it is totally rideable. I ride it right to the end and pass about 10 guys. Just as I hit the end I go over the bars. That is twice in 3 minutes. so much for the guys that I passed. Then in the bmx track i came too hot into one of the corners and got tangled in the marking tape. F-ck I could not get out of my own way. I was getting frustrated. I had marking tape in my wheel and I was having a hard time moving through the crowd. At one point I came through some wet corners and that were off camber. One of them goes into a blind corner, as I came through the blind one I ran into the back of the guy in front of me. WTF again. I did not expect to make the catch at that moment. Anyways, all in all I was not having a great day. I passed about 28 guys to round out the top 20. Wtih the race only being 40 min I ran out of time.
I am fine if I get beat, but I was beating myself. I deceided to line up with the A men. On the starting line ( not to mention the regular fast guys ) was Parbo, Danish National champ, and Max Plaxton. If you don't know who Plaxton is,well he is one of the fastest men on a bike. Won a bronze, maybe a silver, at the Worlds 2 years ago for MTB. I had a pretty good idea what my fate would be. Well, I gave it what I had and what I had. For the first half of the race I was actually pretty respectable. I rode about mid pack, perhpaps a bit back. I know I was not up front with Max and Parbo elbowing it out, but I was trying not to be a laughing stock. I had some great moments and at a certain point I gaining a lot of ground on other riders. Then at about 35 minutes the switch flicked and that was it, I was in survival mode. At one point I saw 6 to go and I thought I was going to die. Any form, for cross, that I posses was gone. I had some stumbles, hit the scond sand pit running into it and forgot to pick up my bike. I was bonking and getting that twinge feeling that cramps could be coming. Well, going onto to 2 to go Max and Parbo came by me. They were not pulling riders. Damn. I wanted to stop. I wanted to stop so bad, but I also wanted to keep going in a sick way. Max and Parbo lapped all but the first 6 guys. 1hour 40 minutes of almost non stop cross. Never again! I will however line up as an A for the rest of the year I think. I think with fresh legs I can keep myself from being the laughing stock I probably was. Plaxton beat Parbo in a close finish.
Sydor used the Hutchinson tubeless system and she said they were burping air on the off camber, Tubs are still the way to go....