NCCX Winter Cup Finale

Smiles were everywhere for the final race of the season, despite the threat of rain and the promise of sand. Ben made quick work of the volleyball court, possibly because he's been tearing up singletrack on a singlespeed, possibly because his special lady friend is a volleyball player.

Corey found running the section more efficient.

And Geoff, ever the roadie, always insists on staying in the saddle and hammering.

The course was classic Greensboro. Lots of twists and turns. Wet grass and mud (ranging from Nutella to Yoplait Fruit-at-the-bottom yogurt). Sand pits, barriers, and a run up. And all of this on a relentless hillside, making for substantial climbing each lap. Lots of crashes, including one rider who may have ended up in the pond.

There was a solid winter-series turnout, with all of the usual suspects. We ran into Justin from Durham, who rode a nice race and Brian from Greensboro, who hadn't renewed his license and was not allowed to race his nice bike. Even cyclocross VIP Adam Meyerson (Cycle-smart guy of "Transition" (the movie) fame) made the trip down from New England to beat Hamblen in the Pro 1-2s.

I've been a bad teammate this season and have arrived too late to see most of Ben, Geoff, and Corey's races. I also usually forget my camera or forget to charge my battery and neglect to get pictures. nevertheless, I was thrilled to see these guys finishing their first cx season in excellent form and spirit.

Great results from all of the lads. I particularly liked how Ben terrorized the children he was racing against

This photo reminded me of the classic optical illusion of an Ames room:

BCC team photo Ben, Linus, Ali (L to R)

Given Ben's height, I'd say he's actually about 100m behind that guy.

Linus, Jay, and I raced in the afternoon. We had lots of great crowd support and despite a little drizzle, we avoided the heavy downpour that finally happened later that evening.

The most bad-ass performance of the day had to be by Jay, who has been working crazy architect-on-a-deadline hours. He dashed out the the race, then immediately back home for dinner with his wife and kids, and then back to work. I stopped by his office late Sunday evening and he wasn't going anywhere--quite literally. When I arrived in the parking lot, it initially looked like the half a dozen cars had randomly parked in a haphazard "fuck it, i'm working all night, so i'm not going to bother parking in the lines" arrangement. however, upon closer inspection of the photo below, you can see that, in this vast sea of parking spaces, the black sedan actually parked directly behind two other cars in a non-haphazard "fuck it, i'm working all night so you two fools aren't going anywhere either" arrangement.

i didn't recognize any of these cars as Jay's, so i am assuming he was neither the trapper or the trapee, but needless to say, a 50 minute cyclocross race was probably the easiest part of his day.

For me, having this group of folks to race, train, and travel with made this the best cyclocross season ever and i'm already excited for next year. BCC is currently in the planning stages of hosting a race. Can we bring CX back to durham? wait and see.