The Cat 3 field was pretty loaded with the likes of A Wiens, P. Kraus, J. Schilling, K. Ricke and a handful of others from STL whom I didn't know and the win could come from any of us. My money was on A Wiens as he had been killing it all season, but he was a KS resident which left the MO Champ still open. For this I figured P. Kraus and J. Schilling would be at the front end of it along with myself (at least I had hoped).
MO State was a focus for my season, as one would expect, and all week I did the right things to recover from three days racing in Iowa (Jingle Cross) the weekend prior and keeping some snap in the legs with lite efforts. Monday was rest, Tuesday was a lite 1 hr spin on the trainer, Wednesday a lite basketball session to get the HR up some followed with a lite 45 spin on the trainer, Thursday was spent on the SBU 'cross course for 1:30hrs with a handful of efforts, and Friday was a lite ride with some quality openers. I had done all the right things with food and sleep and frankly I felt really good going into Saturday; even prepped the bike with new cables (much needed after Iowa) and she was shining and spinning great.
Friday evening was a late game at The Courts for Ian's b-ball crew which didn't turn out so great as we got beat again (2-4 so far). Ian played solid as always, but a couple of our quality kids from last year don't seem very into it this year and that's where we are getting beat. Not too big of a deal as they are 9 yrs old with many years to go... 9 years old, I can't even remember what I was doing then, but I assure you it wasn't competitive sports at Ian's level.
Since I didn't race until 2pm Saturday morning Deb and I snuck in a Brenda's breakfast before picking up Dale and his daughter Mary for the cruise to KC. Dale (Cat 4 - 40+) and Ira (single speed) raced at 1pm. When we arrived and opened the car doors we found it pretty chilly out (car showed 35*), but what made it brutal was the freaking freezing wind blowing!
Got in a good warm up while Dale defended his Boss Cross lead (the orange jersey staying in SWMO) and nabbed the state champ jersey in his category. Ira raced the single speed in proper 'SWMO attire' for the first time and he finished well.
Front row call up with the usual suspects (minus Peter) and off we go... Quickly slid into third or forth place for the first lap without much trouble and then to third wheel as A Wiens was riding away (he's a KS guy so it was no big deal). I hooked up with K Ricke, who had been riding well all season, but he was not pushing the pace like I hoped and before I knew it a long line of contenders were on us. The next couple of laps I lead some and set in some to see how things were going. For the first time of the 'cross season for some unknown reason I was not 'clean' through the dismounted sections which is usually my strength; I kept clipping wheels over the barriers and mishandled my bike several times during the runs (what the heck, this was not good). A Hub guy (MO resident) had rolled off the front and had a little gap on us, but nothing I thought that couldn't be brought back. After a lap or two (half way thru) it was two STL guys, Peter K, Cam Rex, and I chasing the Hub racer (turned out to be Rock Wamsley - a solid mtb'er) until I started losing power in my legs... uh oh! The group would gap me on the open power sections and I would rejoin on the tighter twistier stuff, but that didn't last long before they gaped me and I couldn't bring it back. With 3 to go I focused on one of the STL guys (Sam Moore) who had dropped of the group ahead and with with 1/2 lap to go I caught and passed him to finish 6th on the day and 4th in the MO standings. Rock took the state jersey (and second overall) while Peter was third on the day and second in MO; J Schilling finished 5th and 3rd in MO.
Frustrating to have only my second 'off' day of a 20 race season on the one that mattered the most and for the life of me couldn't figure out why my technical/dismounted stuff felt so out of place - weird! After a little 'pout' time I got to thinking about the season as a whole how it was hugely successful and all the fun over the past 2 1/2 months. It was a solid field and the best guys won/placed high - congrats to them.
Loaded up the crew, took out my disappointment at Gates (helped tons), then headed home - done for the season...
With another day of cold temps on tap for Topeka on Sunday I licked my wounds (oddly enough I have a major gash on my mid-thigh and a large contusion on my Achilles that I don't remember happening) and called it a season. I have no doubt A Wiens will take care of business and make it two to two (good luck, bro).
Later in the week I'll knock out a season recap and 2011 outlook.
I call it the Jingle cross curse. That course is so different, and fatiguing from any of our local courses, I never have any snap after that weekend.
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