Tanner's the Man

The final cross race of the season brought mixed results for the Cottle crew. Tanner had a great day and I got up close and personal with the ground. Tanner won the junior race against a good junior field. The course was a mixture of mud and frozen ground that resulted in many crashes. Tanner road very well and kept the crashing to a minimum to score a solid win. It was his best race of the year, by far. I was really proud of him and he also won the overall points in the Utah Cyclocross Series for the junior class. There was an awards party afterward and Tanner recieved a medal for his 3rd place at the State Championships as well as an award for winning the overall series. What a great year for the T-man. He has developed into a solid bike handler and is very competitive. He pushes himself to the limit at each race. He's already looking forward to next season.

I had a good start in my race and was leading for most of the 1st lap. I was a close 3rd when I went down hard in some ice on the second lap. I chased back to 4th and was closing a bit on 3rd when I went down again. This pattern repeated itself the entire race. In the end, I crashed 5 times and lost any hope of catching the leaders. I finished 4th about a 1/2 lap down. I was disappointed with my result, but happy to know I can compete with the fast guys in my group when I keep it upright and have good legs. The best crash was missing the re-mount after the barriers right in front of the announcers and crowd. It was impressive and I have the scars to prove it.

I'm off the bike for a week or two now as I take a break before beginning the build for next season. I have 3 months of lots of hours indoors and out ahead of me. However, I had my best year ever on the bike and I'm motivated to get faster.

I forgot the camera Saturday so I don't have pictures. However, utahcyclocross.com should have links to some pictures up in a day or two. Brady, I'll post pictures of skiing this winter just to pressure you to consider moving back!