Boss Cross 4 and MO State Championship
Last weekend, I made the excursion to KC for the State Championships.
Leading up to the weekend, the forecast was looking more than a little grim. Rain was expected Friday night. More rain for the race on Sunday. And, after everything was good and soggy, a cold front sweeping in on Sunday.
Mother Nature did not disappoint.
I decided to race Masters, for a change of pace, on Saturday and would then decide what to race on Sunday. Saturday's race began at 11am. I looked quickly at directions to the course and thought it was no problem. Was I ever confused. The list of my screw ups is too long to mention but without good people like Cory and Patrick talking me to the course, via phone, I would have been totally screwed.
I arrived 30 minutes before my race. “Perfect” preparation for a race. I jogged to the registration, got dressed and pulled the bike out of the car while Patrick pinned my jersey. I hopped onto the course and, at the very least, checked out the muddy section around the BMX course to see what hell awaited me. Turns out it was a muddy, off-camber quagmire followed by an uphill grassy section that I was not man enough to ride up. I was only able to ride less than half a lap before getting called to the start line, but the remainder of the course couldn't have been any more hellish that that section around the BMX track.
Masters were the first race of the day. Thank goodness. While portions of the course were muddy, much were still in relatively good condition. My race was solid, if not spectacular. I finished in 7th place.
By the end of the race the bike, and it's pilot, was well covered in mud.
We left the race course and stopped at a car wash to power wash our bikes instead of hanging around to watch other races. On the way back to the hotel, the rain finally came. With every passing hour, I was more and more happy to not be racing. Sunday, however, was sure to provide plenty of "entertainment".
I awoke Sunday morning to a steady rain and a "balmy" 34 degrees. I had decided to race Masters again for the State Championship. Racing at 10am and getting home at a reasonable hour seemed more appetizing than racing at 2pm and getting home late in the evening.
Thankfully, the overnight rain finally stopped by around 8am. Frankly, I'm not sure that it mattered much. The damage to the race course was done yesterday, after we raced, and then only saturated more with the overnight rain.
Sunday's course was essentially raced in an opposite direction from Saturday but with some minor changes. What was mostly dry the day before had, at a very minimum, become much softer. And, at the worst, become unrideable or a mud bog.It was hellish race.
You were left delicately skating through turns while trying to apply power in the straights as the bike slipped and slid and wanted to do anything but go straight. With each passing lap, the bike got a little heavier as the mud and grass built up on the bike.
Our small eight man field settled into its respective placings rather quickly. From there it was all about trying to catch those in front while making sure no one was coming back from a poor start. I settled into fourth and knew that one or two ahead were from KS so I was feeling confident about getting a medal position.
After the race, I looked at the results and I had finished fourth. I was satisfied, especially since second and third were from KS. When the time came for the podium presentation, I made sure I was wearing a team jersey for any photos. They called up the winner, then they called up second place. Thats fine. And then they handed him the silver medal. What?
I didn’t have a flyer handy to see if there were any limitations to who won what prizes and I sure wasn’t going to make a scene during the podium presentation.I still don’t understand the logic of awarding medals to KS residents for a MO Championship race, especially when KS specifically states that only KS riders are eligible. Being handed a cheap medal is not a big deal. I guess we all like a little acknowledgement, though, when we feel it is deserved.
What’s done is done. Time to move on.
Leading up to the weekend, the forecast was looking more than a little grim. Rain was expected Friday night. More rain for the race on Sunday. And, after everything was good and soggy, a cold front sweeping in on Sunday.
Mother Nature did not disappoint.
I decided to race Masters, for a change of pace, on Saturday and would then decide what to race on Sunday. Saturday's race began at 11am. I looked quickly at directions to the course and thought it was no problem. Was I ever confused. The list of my screw ups is too long to mention but without good people like Cory and Patrick talking me to the course, via phone, I would have been totally screwed.
I arrived 30 minutes before my race. “Perfect” preparation for a race. I jogged to the registration, got dressed and pulled the bike out of the car while Patrick pinned my jersey. I hopped onto the course and, at the very least, checked out the muddy section around the BMX course to see what hell awaited me. Turns out it was a muddy, off-camber quagmire followed by an uphill grassy section that I was not man enough to ride up. I was only able to ride less than half a lap before getting called to the start line, but the remainder of the course couldn't have been any more hellish that that section around the BMX track.
Masters were the first race of the day. Thank goodness. While portions of the course were muddy, much were still in relatively good condition. My race was solid, if not spectacular. I finished in 7th place.
By the end of the race the bike, and it's pilot, was well covered in mud.
We left the race course and stopped at a car wash to power wash our bikes instead of hanging around to watch other races. On the way back to the hotel, the rain finally came. With every passing hour, I was more and more happy to not be racing. Sunday, however, was sure to provide plenty of "entertainment".
I awoke Sunday morning to a steady rain and a "balmy" 34 degrees. I had decided to race Masters again for the State Championship. Racing at 10am and getting home at a reasonable hour seemed more appetizing than racing at 2pm and getting home late in the evening.
Thankfully, the overnight rain finally stopped by around 8am. Frankly, I'm not sure that it mattered much. The damage to the race course was done yesterday, after we raced, and then only saturated more with the overnight rain.
Sunday's course was essentially raced in an opposite direction from Saturday but with some minor changes. What was mostly dry the day before had, at a very minimum, become much softer. And, at the worst, become unrideable or a mud bog.It was hellish race.
You were left delicately skating through turns while trying to apply power in the straights as the bike slipped and slid and wanted to do anything but go straight. With each passing lap, the bike got a little heavier as the mud and grass built up on the bike.
Our small eight man field settled into its respective placings rather quickly. From there it was all about trying to catch those in front while making sure no one was coming back from a poor start. I settled into fourth and knew that one or two ahead were from KS so I was feeling confident about getting a medal position.
After the race, I looked at the results and I had finished fourth. I was satisfied, especially since second and third were from KS. When the time came for the podium presentation, I made sure I was wearing a team jersey for any photos. They called up the winner, then they called up second place. Thats fine. And then they handed him the silver medal. What?
I didn’t have a flyer handy to see if there were any limitations to who won what prizes and I sure wasn’t going to make a scene during the podium presentation.I still don’t understand the logic of awarding medals to KS residents for a MO Championship race, especially when KS specifically states that only KS riders are eligible. Being handed a cheap medal is not a big deal. I guess we all like a little acknowledgement, though, when we feel it is deserved.
What’s done is done. Time to move on.
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