Another big event has come and gone and for me this was to be my last race of 2014 until the fine peeps at Boss Cross decided to have the state cx race in my back yard!! Anyway, we drive down the day before in the rain so I can get some recon laps in before I race, the weather was off and on rain the entire way down there so I'm thinking mud-a-thon here I come. Before I continue a bit of a rant...the toll system in Oklahoma is EFFING REDICULOUS!!!
Moving on...we get to the venue and it has stopped raining, so I quickly change and start riding laps. After one lap Mother Nature decided she wasn't done yet and let some more rain fly. Not a big deal, it was 61 degrees and crazy humid so I kept on keepin on. After I was good and soaked about 4 laps I decided it was time to head to the hotel. As I roll up to my truck it stops raining...oh well...I got what I needed.
Saturday
I arrive at the venue with tons of time to get ready, it was cloudy and about 45 degrees with a good breeze from the northeast. After The recon ride I decided to ride the Hammer due to course conditions which in the end weren't that bad...but my new bike has been pissing me off lately so one more reason to ride the Hammer!
At this race the call up was done by USAC points which got me a spot on the front row, I was thinking hell yes I get great starts on the Hammer so this is good!! Well...at the gun I had one of the all time crappy starts on that bike ever!! I missed the pedal about 5 times...this landed me in about 7th at the first turn...oh well...lets see how it goes.
To make a long story short...I slipped back to 10th for a couple of laps, then I managed to get back to 9th and with a little more than one to go I bobbled and dropped back to 10th. going into the last lap I was about 10 seconds adrift so I pulled out my last match and let 'er rip. I managed to close it down to 5 seconds before I blew up...there wasn't very much track left at that point so that's how it ended.
Sunday
Sunday I decided to ride the new bike, issues be damned! The course was still soft but it was time to ride the new bike. My less than stellar performance on Saturday got me a 2nd row spot on the grid...oh well better than 3rd or 4th row...anyway...at the gun I nailed my pedal and away I went...I'm not greedy at these events because there are some really fast racers with that said I slot into 7th at the end of the pain train...to say I was going blind is an understatement!! I was dangling about 3 seconds off the back and could NOT bridge up!!
As we race on I keep the gap about the same until we hit the sand pit...it was not rideable on Sunday...so after I run it...I lost contact. Oh well...I keep going and one other racer who got a really bad start goes blowing by me like I was parked.
Moving on...so now rolling along in 8th, the guy I did battle with on Saturday is lurking about 10 seconds back. I was not gonna give him an inch and was going to go blind keeping it that way.
With about a lap and a half to go I still held a 10 second advantage until I made a slight bobble on a greasy uphill right. This allowed dude to close the gap to 5 seconds....GRRRRRRRR!!! At this point I sold out and went as hard as I could go. As we start the last lap we were still at about 5 seconds. At a half lap to go I was back to 10 seconds and I had broken him.
There ya go, now you know. Ruts n Guts...will I go back, probably. Next year will be huge! Based on what I've read it will be a race for the big dogs and the field sizes should increase.
E
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