First Cross Race Report

Nittany Lion Cross. It was pretty bad ass. Nice fast course. 2 sand pits.

I raced the Men's 2/3/4 or B men. Things started out good and I ended up on the tail end of a 15 guy group that was off the front. Somewhere around the 3rd lap my left lung decided to blow up and I started going backwards. Fast. I think it was because of the hard start in the cold air, but it hurt so bad I thought I was going to have to pull out. Also, I burped the rear tire somehow (I am running tubeless) and although it sealed right up, it lost a good bit of pressure. So for the rest of the race I thought I'd lose my tire every turn.

Later in the 3rd lap I got caught by a group of 4 guys. I realized that I was much faster through the turns, but lacked power in the hills. So a lap later I started drilling it through the turns and dropped those guys and caught Colin Sandberg and Thomas Wood who had dropped off the original group. We were together for the final 2 laps. I knew I wouldn't out sprint them, but I was still able to carry a little more speed through the turns so tried to work that, but to no avail. They stayed on my wheel and romped me in the sprint.

So, I finished 15th. I spent the whole race, 45 minutes, in zone 5, or above 180 BPM. Some superstar 15 yr old won by a mile.

I did get to see Coach Young again, which was great. I love that man. Just wish I had some good news to tell him.