MSG #1/ #2

10-10-08/10-11-08

MSG #1 has rekindled the CX fire under my ass. A weekend of great racing with friends and family yielded untapped fun CX is renown for.

Bunny strutting her stuff in the sand. (her first official CX race!)


Yet another way to get across a sand pit.


The slide technique. Lots of sand made for lots of carnage!

Mom led the first few laps of the races.

D-Rock and this "green dude" had battles of epic proportions all weekend. Each relenting to the other on alternate days.

Dirk Playing in the dirt.

Jenna Bales from NC works her way through the pit of despair.

Bunny Hopping

Hey that looks like my bike!

And Again!

Dirk leaves smoke trails when he corners.

The magical beat of a 55 gallon drum I got from a French stomp like band called Les Tambours du Bronx kept people going over the barriers.

It also evidently is a chick magnet.

So last year I got off to a really bad start with MSG. I tripped on a barrier and face planted into the second one knocking myself unconscious, breaking my nose and wrist, and damn near breaking my neck. So my expectations for MSG #1 were to get the weekend through without incident and finish a cross race. Mission accomplished. I actually did 4 cross races this weekend and I’m still feeling it mid week afterward. Saturday’s races brought the first of 4 very good results for me.

The Saturday Cat 3 race blew apart early and after struggling through the middle of the field I was able to break free to the front with 3 racers. The guy who won put a big gap on us which I was able to close twice, but every time I would close up to him he would attack again and destroy me. I eventually cracked and he ran away with the race nearly lapping the entire field. Still I was able to hold off the third place guy and grab a second place and I was completely stoked by that.

Sunday’s Cat 3 race had a smaller field but the competition was still quite fierce. Cori Rimmer had just gotten a cross bike and I remember thinking “shit”, because Cori has taught me a thing or two on my cross bike with his mtn bike. Cori drove hard off the start for the hole shot prize and gapped the entire field. I about gave up on chasing him, but I saw him sit up after crossing the line for the prize so I drove hard to catch on. After a lap of sparring back and forth I realized this kid could out sprint me just about any day and decided to lay down everything I had to get a mid race gap. To my amazement, it worked and I kept in about 20-30 seconds off for most of the rest of the race. I felt good about it till Cori said he had done a cross country race the day before, but still before this kid goes pro I got that one time when he was younger when I got him.

Cori sporting the socks. You could hear "go socks" in the crowds.

The Singlespeed races over the weekend by far went the best for me and I have to say I had the most fun on them of all the races. Both days had massive fields and the starts were insane. Saturday’s race brought an old racing theme back to cross for me…The dueling between myself and Todd Braswell from NC (where the real bad ass CX’ers in the southeast are from). I believe the quote of the race was “Hey Jeremy, just like old times eh?” Todd and I were able to break away from the field early and then the battle of wits began. Singlespeed cross is a lot more finesse because you just get spun out in sections and so all you can do is spin like a freak and draft where it’s open and pray that the momentum you need to get ahead in the corners does not exceed the traction capabilities of your tires. We took turns drafting off each other and taking leads but no one was ever able to break free. Coming around the final lap, the lead was changed a half a dozen times and we made light contact several times in tighter corners. The rush! The final stretch was a long uphill pavement section transitioning into a humped flat field for the line. Todd went hard to try to drop me initially on the hill and then I saw him sitting up to wait for the final sprint. It was at this time I decided I would not be able to out sprint him and I decided to go. I think I caught him a little off guard and by the time he responded I had a couple of bike lengths on him, which I was able to hold to the line. A super exciting race with a great finish. I have dreams about such races and it couldn’t have been more exciting. The drumbeat, combined with the crowd excitement only made it that much more of a rush. Todd is my idol when it comes to cross finesse as he’s got the techniques and handling skill set of a CX cat.

Sunday’s CX race was regretfully in Todd’s absence but another dark horse we hadn’t noticed right behind us, John Brenner, stepped up to the plate. John had been geared a bit high the previous day and still managed a close third place behind Todd and me, but Sunday it had clearly been fixed. I noticed this later in the race, when we were evenly matched in our pedaling efforts. He crushed it off the line immediately pushing the entire field into anaerobic death mode. I tried several times with hard attacks to drop him and I felt he did the same, but much like the previous day a battle of epic proportions proceeded. We as we approached the paved hill section on the last lap John put in a hard effort much like Todd, only there was no relinquishment to this attack. At this point I knew there was no chance for recovery and on the hope that I had put a little less effort into the hill as I was trying to draft off him I went waaaay out. I got a small jump on him and I decided I was going to go for it even if I puked my guts out on the line. I was first back onto the grass and final stretch but John was always gaining right to the line. I was now officially spent. I also found out that John is 40, so I can only hope I’m still that fast when I get older. Another exciting finish, and a great finish for the 4th race of the weekend. Looking forward to a long hard anaerobic cross season.John breathing down my neck in the SS race.