Last Chance Cross

It's been a couple of days, but the "Last Chance Cross" or "First Chance of the Year" race was a good time Saturday. We were only racing for fun, but it was still hard. I haven't figured out how to race and not go to my limit. I think it is a genetic flaw. In any case, I guess I beat all the old guys and didn't get lapped by Bart, so I'd call that a success. I hadn't really done anything on the bike since Nationals, so it was a shock to my system the first 15 minutes. The conditions were wet, muddy, snowy, slick and cold. In other words, a pretty good day for a cross race.

Tanner moved up and raced with the fast B men. He was a stud. He was in the top ten the entire race up to the last lap. While in 8th or so, he went down on a slick corner and lost his chain on the outside. He was pasted by 4 or 5 guys while getting it back on. He pasted a few back before the finish and was pleased with his effort. T is going to race with the B's next year and should be very competitive. (Mike W also moved up to the B's and was in the top 3 all day on his single speed. I think he and Tanner will be battling in the B's next year. They'll both be beating up on the A's in no time.)



Tanner with the race promoter, Matt O'hran.

Up the muddy hill then..

remount at the top.

The awards party that night was fun. It was an 80's theme party with a live band. The band was 12 year olds from a Performance High School featuring O'hran's daughter on vocals. They rocked! We were all blown away how good they were.

Here's Tanner getting his Junior overall series winner award.

I actually was a finalist with Bart and Art for the best costume. The 80's preppie look was spot on. Art won the prize on a sympathy vote. Bart always wins, so Art got the prize. My lack of dance moves held me back from the win.

However, if Blaze would have made the party, he would have won easily. Blaze, aka MK, rocked the race on a single speed sporting long hair, a mechanic's jump suit, unfiltered smokes and Miller High Life hand-ups each lap. Impressive! He's off to Belgium this week to be with his people. There's a group of UT old-guy crossers in the Old Country to race Master's World's and watch a couple of Pro races. Good luck guys!