GC Connection: Just Call Me Crash

Today's race was in epic conditions. It snowed all morning and through the last lap of my race. There was a good 6 to 9 inches of snow by the time we finished. The course was one long single track that was difficult to ride let alone race. It was a mine field of snow and ice ready to take you down at any time. Passing was an adventure and usually required the person begin passed to give way. All good cyclocross fun.

Tanner didn't have much competition in the juniors (only one other racer) but had a good time mixing it up with the Men B group. He worked his way through half the field midway through the race only to have a cleat on his shoe come lose. He had to ride the rest of the race without clipping in and lost a little ground. He slipped, slid and crashed like everyone else. He's racing really well and it's fun to watch him. He broke in his Christmas present (his own S-Works Tricross to match the Chrispy's he's been borrowing) in fine fashion.

I had a crash filled race. I hit the ground more today than in all my prior cross races combined. I felt like a spaz and had only one lap without going down. I used to think I was pretty good in bad conditions, but I guess not. I did everything from a simple slide-out to a full face plant in a snow bank. It was an impressive display of crashing. It could have been worse. I had several spectacular saves that should have been crashes. I ended up 4th after a good battle with Dave W and Gary F but had one lap with my two best crashes that took me out of the chase. I guess I'm destined to finish 4th at Wheeler this year.

Here's a bunch of pictures to help capture an epic day of racing. While my result was disappointing, I had a blast racing with my friends in crazy conditions. I suppose the snow will still be around for next week's race in Ogden. Should be a great finish to the Utah Cross season.