Sometimes all of these hazards can happen at once and sometimes everything just seems to fall into place and the chaos that is cyclocross becomes a beautiful thing to experience. This past Sunday was one of those days for me.
We were blessed with perfect weather and fast, dry conditions. Sam Janes, Jim Havey, and the CES Team put together a fun, flowing course with a great mix of power straights and technical turns that utilized the park's off-camber sections really well.
On lining up I felt the pressure of my own expectations on my shoulders. I knew the field, and I felt that a podium was within reach, but it would require me really getting my act together to beat these guys. I thought about how when I let such expectations take over my focus, it becomes a distraction causing me to slip up and not get my head in the game. I did this at Gun Club this year, Master's Worlds, USGP last year, and on numerous occasions as a kid racing BMX.
So I focused on relaxing, taking each part of the day one-step at a time, and focusing on the immediate task at hand and not on my expectations or results. We have practiced starts once weekly with the Lexington Cyclocross group, and everyday that I commute as I use the same shoes and pedals on my commuter. At every traffic light I would imagine myself at a start light, calmly waiting for the whistle.
So when the 30 sec warning came my anxiety was low, my HR was down, and I could feel myself calmly absorbing the moment.
The whistle blew, I went through the motion of pushing off and reaching for my pedal. My shoe found my cleat as soon as it touched the pedal and it clipped right in - pure luck. It happened so quick it caught me off-guard for a second, before I realized that I needed to make the most of this, so I put my head down, hit the throttle, and made the field chase me as much as possible.
So the hole-shot, with a bit of luck, came without having to scrap to be first into the turn. My focus now was on staying calm and settling into a comfortable pace that wouldn't send me into the red zone on the first lap. I've done this so many times this season, so I was trying to play it safe.
I held the lead for the first two laps, balancing between pushing my advantage and not over-extending myself. Inevitably Rob Kendal made his move past me and onto his own pace, then latter Mitchell Kersting blew past to take the lead and never relinquish it. These guys are seasoned performers and I knew better than to try and hold their wheel so early in the race.
Those guys are tough to keep up with and I could feel my red-line encroaching. I focused on riding mistake free, smooth, and fast. I found areas of the course to carry momentum, helping me save matches and accelerate less out of the turns and exit faster.
I could see my team mate Steve Gordon tagging onto the back of the pursuit group, which was at a threatening size. On the one hand having Steve bridge up would have been ideal, but allowing too many riders to come with him was risky. So I kept the pressure on at a steady pace waiting to see who could make the selection.
At one point, my long time rival Ray Smith (32nd CX race with Ray) made an appearance and put in some fast laps before the pace took its toll on him and he fell back. Eventually Chad Tieman and Frederick Rose caught up and the battle for third began.
We worked together well and I figured out where each rider was strong and on which parts of the course they were weakest. Rose was drilling the straights and some of the tight 180's, while Chad was very strong in the long off-camber sections and was railing it through the tight turns.
I could feel an advantage over the double barriers, and over the last single barrier as I was riding it while they ran it. I learned not to take the lead at the double barriers after I dragged them down the straights that followed a few times. The draft effect was strong that day (for a CX race) and it took me a few laps to figure out the best places to use it.
We were setting a fast pace, testing each other through each section. While there was a lot of Cat-and-Mouse, we were still closing in on second place. Someone would get tired and fall off, and then scrabble to catch back up before attacking again. We all shared the load and we all rode aggressively. We knew it would come down to the last lap so we were testing the boundaries and figuring out where to make our moves.
We came through on the last lap in a tight formation, Rose leading, me in 4th and Chad right behind. My team mates were yelling at me to ride smart, and although I had tried several times to shake these guys, I knew it was going to take a deep effort to make something stick - but, I was already on the red-line.
I could feel my stomach starting to lurch, and some doubt starting to creep into my mind. I started thinking about how much these guys were fighting for this, how Rose was a seasoned rider and deserved the honor of the podium, but also how much Tieman has improved this year and how aggressively he was going after this.
I caught myself and changed the way I was thinking. I told myself how much I wanted this podium and how I deserve to stand on that step. I told myself that I knew how to suffer right along with these guys, and if I blew up it would be more satisfying than giving into the burning in my legs.
Tieman made his move after the barriers, accelerating down the straight. We stood up and reeled him in. I kept them close, trying to put pressure on them in and out of the turns to force a mistake, while also waiting for their attacks.
Rose attacked coming into a difficult, off-camber 180. He took a chance and paid the price, bobbling just a little bit and allowing me to take the lead and put in a dig to cement his mistake. Chad was right there, all over my wheel. We still had half a lap to go, my anticipation was high and I no-longer felt the burn in my legs. I centered in my focus, making sure I hit the right lines through each turn, holding my speed just right so I flowed through the turns and hit the straights with momentum to keep the pressure on Chad, who was biting at the bit behind me. Most of all, I kept the anticipation of a possible podium as far back in my mind as possible - I wasn't going to let it distract me and let Chad slip through.
I had an ace up my sleeve with the last, single barrier. Chad tried to muscle his way past rubbing shoulders with me. I made sure I held the inside line so he couldn't under cut me and block my way out of the turn. I held the lead out of the turn, rode the barrier and hit the gas as soon as I touched the pavement to seal the deal.
It felt like a win, and the battle will be one I will remember for a long time. Close racing with Chad Tieman, Team Upland p/b Sustainable Cycling, and Frederick Rose, Bob's Redmill, was a lot of fun and I've got a lot of respect for these guys. They know how to race hard, keep it clean and come out smiling at the end.
1st Place; Mitchell Kersting, Bob's Redmill celebrating a solid ride, with no-one threatening him the whole race.
2nd Place; Rob Kendall, Papa John's. Rob won here last year, putting in a huge final lap effort to close the gap to first place. He worked so hard his lunch came up afterwards.
I savored the moment - it felt good that I won the mental battle with myself on the last lap. I had to back myself and believe that I could do it. It sounds cliche, but moments like these make you realize your own potential and that sometimes it just takes some faith in yourself to make something happen. Of course, a little luck always helps and either of these guys could have been the one to snatch third place.
Other cool stuff that went on that day;
Kellie Anderson (an employee I supervise at the Y) taking on the barriers in her first CX race ever.
Team Mate - Doug Burton keeping his race rival honest after completing his second race of the day.
David Rose taking 2nd place KY State Championships Cat 3
Running the Sprout Sprint (Kid's race) on behalf of the Y. 
Watch the video here...
Special thanks to Shera Clark and Kent Baumgardt for letting me us their pics.
