crossing out 2010

The only thing better than a day off from work is a day off from work with a cyclocross race. I made the short trek to Stump Park in Shawnee yesterday, for the last race of 2010, and the first one with my recently renewed 2011 license.

The course was pretty much non-technical, but included a pretty long run-up - probably 60 or 70 yards up the side of a steep hill at the east edge of the park - and one set of barriers that you could hit at a pretty good clip. The only other notable feature was the descent after the run-up which include a tricky off-camber turn.

The weather was the story of the day, however. When I left the house, it was 48 degrees and sunny, but dropped to a cloudy 36 degrees in the fifteen minutes it took me to get to the park. Thursday night, brought just less than a half inch of rain and freezing rain, then the 20 to 25 mph winds dried most of the course out, but left a few soft spots, and a little mud in one or two places. I am proud to say "Karl didn't fall down". The Fango's at 25psi did a great job - never felt slipery or sketchy in the mud or corners.

We were all shivering in the cold wind during staging, but warmed up quickly with the effort and in the sun, which peeked out from behind the clouds about midway through the race. I didn't get clipped in well, and got off poorly, but made up a few places throughout the race, especially on the run-up, and finished pretty much as expected, in the bottom half, but not DFL for once.

Thanks to Roger Harrison for the above picture. He's a great supporter of the KC cycling scene, and always has a lot of good race pictures, including one or two of a pretty good crash about 10 yards after the start line in the Master's 30+ class that took of just before my Master's 40+ group.

Just two more races are on the local CX calendar to close out the season, including one tomorrow at one of my favorite venues up the road in Parkville, MO.