I staged on the first row for the first time in an elite race! I really like this start, a slightly uphill paved 150m. I had my best start of the season and was 2nd at the holeshot right behind Mcnicholas (a pro who’s been on the top step of UCI races). I held Mcnicholas’ wheel up until the stairs run-up (~1/4 of a lap) when after remounting, he unleashed a massive acceleration to drop me. He had a 10 second gap on me instantly, but I didn’t try to follow because I knew that his pace was unsustainable for me. I managed to close down the gap to Mcnicholas to 4 seconds after lap 1, but I was more concerned about increasing my gap on the chase group of Blackburn, Wissell, Small and Rowell behind me. On lap 2 Blackburn and another guy caught me after I fumbled trying to ride a tricky section that was faster to run. On the fast fire road power section I passed them and focused on establishing a gap. The chase group seemed to gain time on me in the technical sections and the sand pit, where I had particular difficulty, as I fumbled my dismount half the time, one time doing a 360 while trying to run, swinging my bike around my body, another time embarrassingly falling to my knees. But I regained time on them in the power sections. On lap 3 I did a tail whip off the jump just after the pit
On lap 4 I crashed while taking a loose off camber corner too fast. I was worried I bent my derailleur hanger because I crashed on the drive-side but luckily all equipment was ok. On the last lap I was starting to fade, as Rowell and Wissell were closing down on me, only a few seconds back. I sprinted (running not riding) as hard as I could through the sand pit and crossed the finish line shortly after, finishing 2nd over a minute behind Mcnicholas. Right after I finished I looked behind me and saw the Rowell vs. Wissell sprint for the podium, which was won by Rowell by a very small margin.
The course was dry and dusty with lots of loose spots which made for some technical riding but there was also plenty of power sections. The course was a lot more fun when I won the Cat 3 race here last year in wet conditions.
This is the best result I’ve ever had, but I feel like I didn’t race as well as I could have, as I fumbled several times and crashed once. It was really cool to be on Mcnicholas’ wheel for a bit and I’m hoping someday I can battle it out with the likes of him for the win.
20 September 2015 Sucker Brook CX Elite 2nd/26
And no, I didn't get a podium pic... I forgot to get my phone
