cyclocross...it's like crack..You get a taste of the good stuff and you keep coming back

Today was the MCGP Heiser CX. These races are held on Saturdays while the Cross Crusades are on Sundays. As much as I like the big races and the circus of Cross Crusade, these races have been more like races to me. The fields are smaller so you aren't forced to battle 70+ guys at the start. I had a tough week of training thanks to JBV Coaching. This has been the fist year in over 16 years of racing that I decided to completely focus on cyclocross season. I was taking it easy in the winter and doing base in the spring and finally started ramping it up in June.

Ok.. back to the race. I got a decent start and settled in around 5th and could always see 1-4. After a couple of laps 1st and 2nd had a significant gap and I got into a group with 3,4,5. At that point I thought I was going to be racing for 3rd. But I was riding the technical sections as well as the flats and climbs faster than the group, so I opened it up and got into the infamous "no-mans" land with a gap in front and a gap in back. This is a scary place to be doing lap after lap as hard as you can with fear of getting caught and anticipation of trying to close the gap to the leaders. With 3 laps to go, one of the leaders flatted and I went past him and was closing on the lead and giving it everything I had turning myself inside out. With 2 laps to go the leader went into crux mud section and dropped his chain and I made the catch. I went to the front and drove the pace and tried to get away, but nothing was working so I tried to recover. With 1 lap to go, the battle was on. He went to the front and drove the pace. I couldn't drill it any more and was cooked from making the catch and with 1/2 lap to go I had to ease up. So..I rolled in 2nd. He is the series leader, so I knew I was riding with the top guy today.

It's races like this that get you hooked. I was ready to hang it up a couple of weeks ago and then got a win last weekend and 2nd today....I guess that means the "crack" is working.

Tomorrow brings the circus of Cross Crusade.