Kicking off the 'cross season with a.... CRASH!

Well, I'm back home, tired, tired and more tired. It was a good day though with Mike and Paul on the trip down to Chicago. We kicked off the season with Chicago Cross Cup's series opener at Jackson Park.

I wasn't really sure what to expect, as I've never headed to the metropolis of Chicago for the "famed" CCC races. I've seen photos, video and heard lots of stories, but today was my first venture into the Chicago culture. To be honest, it was okay. The racing was fun, don't get me wrong, but lining up 45-50 minutes early for the 4A's was a little ridiculous. And their "strict" 10 wide starting grid was at least 20 wide.

Made for an interesting start though. I must have been somewhere around the 3rd or 4th row, avoided a gnarly crash in the chute and made some ground over the first barrier and into the big downhill swoop. Things were bottle necked here, so put in a big move....dismount and run past 15 stalled riders. Nice.

After that, it was corner, slide, corner, slide, corner. Not much for straight sections to really turn it up and open the legs before the next technical bit. Never felt maxed out, but maybe that was because I had to slow to not take multiple tree branches in the face that were masking parts of the course. I ate mud twice on lap 2 after washing out on the grease that was plentiful around the course with the all day light rain.

Finished 29th on the day, which isn't too shabby considering starting where I did in the sold out field of 100. Upward and onward to USGP next weekend!!! Stoked! Can't wait to rip it up from a solid front row start! Lets get dirty.