Ogden, UT cross

Our one-day road trip to the Utah State Cyclocross Champs was a blast. Bergy, Amanda, and I rolled out of my driveway at 6:30 AM and headed south to see first-hand what the Utah cross scene was like and scratch our “cross itch” one more time.

Big race fields, two energetic announcers on the p.a. system, and a fun course made for a good scene. One thing we all agreed on though was the lack of overall crowd stoke. In contrast, when we raced in Big Sky, MT a crowd of 25 spectators sounded like a hundred with their cowbells and enthusiasm. The spectators in Ogden were quietly watching the race and gathered at the spots on the course most likely to have carnage.

Scene of my carnage

I did not have my best cross race and felt like the injectors were fouled the whole time. With a lap to go I was chasing a racer down to try for a pass near the end of the lap and it came down to the last barrier which was a single log. This log was skinny on the outside and fat on the inside. I had been bunny hopping it each lap at the skinniest part and then taking the following corner wide. As I caught the racer I was chasing he veered right which forced me into the thicker section of the log but I tried to bunny hop it anyway. Carnage. Yard sale, everything must go. Pieces everywhere. I picked myself up and rode the final 300 yards of the lap to finish the race and limped back to my truck in a bit of a fog. After watching the Men’s A race it became evident that running the inside portion of the log and shaving the corner was just as fast and not as risky as the bunny hop option. Yet another lesson learned in my rookie season of cross.

Scotty, I need more power!

Congratulations to Amanda who won the Women’s A race. Bergy put in a solid race against a deep field of super fast guys in the Men’s A race and battled with the Caveman for most of the race.

On the way home we all felt sad that this could be the end of the 2008 cross season and there was chatter about Portland on Dec 6th or the Colorado State Champs on Dec 7th. Now that I have had a day at home and the race euphoria has worn off, I can say that I am done. Season over.


Amanda is like teflon, you cannot stick to her wheel for long

Bergy laying down the power