UTCX #9

UTCX #9 - Mt Ogden Golf Course.  In my opinion, the best cx venue in the series.  Especially when you add an inch or two of snow to it.  I like the course because, for a CX race, it has a monster climb.

I had heard from the racers earlier in the day that the course was greasy and slick (much respect to those who double dip.  Mark raced SS earlier and then A's later in the day).  About 30 min before my race, conditions got worse. The storm arrived and it got colder and snowy.   As much as I like racing in miserable conditions, I started to doubt my decision to race.

I arrived late which meant no pre-ride and no warm up.  In fact, I had to get registration to add me to the start list and re-print it so I could race.  Then I had to pee so bad, I pretty much went in the parking lot.  (Only to have Bob S. heckle me and threaten to put me on the sex offenders list).

I lined up with the A 35+ group which had a new face- Grizzly Adam (who clearly belongs in this group).  I didn't even bother trying to get a good start position.  There would be plenty of time to sort things out on the first climb.

The course was pretty chewed up from all the previous races but there was a fresh layer of snow to hide all the ruts.

At the base of the climb on lap 1, I was 2nd to last but was able to make a few key passes on the climb and got into a much better position.  Most of the racers opted to clip out and run up the steep part of the climb, I was able to get into my granny gear and grind it out.

I had some good tires and was able to keep traction the entire race.  No crashes despite the off camber corners on the downhills.

Each lap, I used the climb to try and distance myself from the chasers.  I was able to get enough of a gap to finish 7th.  While 7th may not sound great, I was pretty happy with it and was my best result after upgrading to the A's this year.