In the beginning....

Wow, I am super stoked to have the first race under my belt. It wasn't a super impressive effort ( 12th out of 38-40 something riders ) but it was buttery smooth which was challenging on what is typically a ridiculously loose course covered in dried out grass, decomposed granite and hidden rocks everywhere. The course was the standard layout that it's always been used with one new section of very tight. compressed 180 degree turns. We haven't seen rain in quite some time here on the Front Range and the terrain has been baked into a very hardpacked slippery surface.

Call-ups seem to be determined by last years season long ACA standings and results to date, needless to say, no call-up for me but thanks to the thin field size, I had a nice outside second row start.

Whistle blows and I'm thinking to myself that it really doesn't seem like we were doing this that long ago. First turn, no calamities, most riders are being respectful and adjusting their speed and line accordingly. As we feed into a very sketchy off camber high speed right into a short straightaway left I see the Frites' own Brian Graves piled up on the left side of the course in a huge cloud of dust as he's screaming obsentities as another rider going down the road. Ah....reminders of Castle Cross last year when it was a poorly placed rock that was bearing the brunt of Brian's fury. The rest of the race was spent trying to move forward through the field and keeping the bike upright. This will be my first year ( ever ) racing on tuby's and I honestly don't know why I've waited this long. ( oh wait, I remember now,..... because they are ungodly expensive ) It feels a bit like cheating, running such low pressure, no risk of pinching and they hook up like mad. ( Dugast Typhoons btw ). I'm sold...until I slice a sidewall and have to take out a second mortgage for a replacement.

Being the first of year, I'm definitely feeling the 2-to-go fade, I thankfully held off riders from behind but was feeling the effort. I'm seriously thinking off making the trek up to GMVC tomorrow when I assess my condition in the morning. This is it for racing for me for awhile as I have travel plans to Taiwan again next weekend and then potentially Europe after that. My season may not start in earnest until the 3rd weekend of October. Great to see the cross family again. Lortie, Brian Graves, the angry Asian, Mr. Compton, Bob Prieto, Ms. Emmit and the Boob who planned on racing until he realized when heading out the door ready to ride to the race that he had left his cross bike at work.

That is all, thanks for reading, I'll try to dig for some pics as they are posted
Shotty