SpookyCross weekend in Iowa

First I would like to thank and commend ZoomPerformance and Elder Corp in Des Moines, IA for putting on a fun race at a great venue. I pre-reg'd for 4 races this last weekend, 2 Saturday and 2 Sunday. A 45min Cat3 race, a 1hr 15min break, and then head back out for another hour of racing against Cat1,2,3 racers. I thought this was a good idea at the time.

There is already a write up about the course and weather/wind. Here: http://cyclingupdate.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=403&Itemid=29

It wasn't long before we left the grass and took a hard right onto the edge of a real Iowa beanfield... and this was after about 3 days of rain! You can only imagine the type of mud the course quickly became...and it didn't get any better as the day wore on!

We had the same 40-50mph gusts in Iowa that you experienced in Chicago which made racing interesting.

I felt less than stellar during the first race and came in disappointed at 6th place for the Cat3 race on Saturday. 6th isn't bad, but I had higher expecations. I had no legs for some reason and people were just dropping me on any uphill sections. I would fight back to make contact and then I'd get dropped again. I knew that the Cat1,2,3 race an hour later was going to be brutal ... and I was right. I started in the 2nd row and was quickly dropped to DFL in the first 1/4 mile. I fought my way back up to 15th/18 and only got lapped once!!! :-) At :30 minutes when I was riding towards Nicole I was making the finger across the throat gesture signaling that I'm done and planned on pulling out after finishing the lap, but as I rolled through I just couldn't allow myself to quit in front of a group of people, so I continued out for one more. 8 minutes later I was back and fighting the same battle, finally convincing myself that I only have 2 more laps, I've already raced 50 minutes, might as well finish. I was worked over and discouraged about my prospects for tomorrow.

Sunday arrived to cooler temps and 50mph winds blowing us all over the place. I'm not sure what changed from Saturday, but somehow I found better legs and was able to snag 2nd place in the Cat3 race. I now have most of the points needed to upgrade to Cat 2. I decided that I had enough racing for the weekend and skipped the Cat 1,2,3 race, instead opting for a burger and beer instead.

Chicross race in St Charles on Sunday up next.

Tim