CX: Cary, NC

After feeling pretty good in Raleigh, Linus and I headed down to Cary for Sunday's races. The Cary course always features a tough run-up along the dam and usually some wicked downhill S-turn they call the super-D. Conditions were sunny, cool, and drier than Saturday, but there was still enough moisture to allow dirt and sand to pack-down a bit. Linus raced first and fought his way through another large Men's 4 field. Soon after the start, racers were strung out all over the long course, so it was tough to tell exactly who was in what position. Linus can probably give you a more thorough description but he rode another smart race, avoiding mishaps in the nastier sections to finish 17th. I didn't envy Linus at all--since the Cat-4 race is only 30 minutes, it requires a ridiculously high intensity and leaves no room for mistakes.

Big props to our pal Jay, who was also out kickin' in in the 4s on his vintage Bontrager mountain bike. He finished 22nd out of 60 racers, beating lots of dudes on shiny new cyclocross rigs and proving it's all about the engine.

Unfortunately, we didn't have a photographer out with us so there is no visual evidence. Jonah received many compliments for his documentation of the Saturday race, but just to remind him not to quit his day job, he did take a couple of lousy photos, including the back flank of Linus (which may or may not have been intentional) and this one:

That being said, this photo is actually a good representation of my race. I had a pretty solid start and felt even better than the previous day. However, about half way through the race, I overshot the apex of the final super-d turn and rolled my tire. My crash provided a nice show for the spectators who gather at this section waiting for just such misfortune. Yes, you are all most welcome. I think I loosened-up the glue with some hard cornering on some of the very tight turns and was one of several victims of the rolled tubular. After picking myself back up, I started running toward the pit, which turned out to be a long, long way away. I still had a little air in the tire, so I'd slowly ride some flat, straght sections of the course, but ended up doing a lot of running as everyone else passed me. After finally making it back to the pit for a wheel change, I was sitting pretty in last place, so I decided to keep on riding and finish. I'd rather pull a DFL than a DNF any day, and all things considered, I feel pretty lucky that I didn't injure myself or anyone else on my stupid crash. The lead trio caught me with 2-to-go, giving me a one-lap discount. Lucky me. Yeah, so that sucked, but I'm getting fired-up for the upcoming races.