'13 360 Cup

So this past weekend was 360 Cup, a two-day'er in Lawrence, KS.  Missed it (along with most) last year so was really looking forward to racing a new spot. 

6:30am solo departure had me pulling up to a slightly chilly 9:30am course already full of folks warming up.  Registered, changed up, and hit the course to see for what I was in store.  Cool layout with plenty of ups, downs, fast turns, technical turns, power sections and only one spot with a potential dismount (double low barriers on a riser).  With dismounted sections as a strong suit for me I was a little disappointed, but that didn't last long as the rest of it was a blast.  Decided on the Clement MXPs instead of the PDXs as the course was pretty grippy even though they got some rain the night prior.

Small(ish) field in the Masters 40+, but good solid competition had me excited for the whistle.  Not a stellar start had me a couple wheels back until we hit a longer open section where I went full on.  Rode a pretty clean race with only one real mistake where I bobbled on the 2nd barrier while riding late in the race and took a solid hit to my lower leg as I tumbled.  Other than that the legs and lungs felt good and was able to win with somewhat of a decent gap.  Really fun course.



Great mix of a little of everything on this course



Rode the barriers about the same as I ran them;
couldn't tell which was faster, but I know what
the fans liked

This and above photo from Matt Cunningham album

Combination of four seperate photos from Roger Harrison

Little cash and free beer; hard to beat

After the race I hung around a bit before heading across Lawrence to the River Trail.  It had been years since last there and holy cow that is a perfect training place on a 'cross bike!  Really lets you rip into corners and push the limits of the tread (Clement PDX).  After a fun hour session I headed back to catch the Open race.

After that is off to Overland Park where I was a guest at casa Bill Marshall for the night.

Next morning it was a quick cruise back to Lawrence and found the course reversed for the day's action.  This made for, in my opinion, a much faster race.  Warmup laps were great on the MXP's again.  The temps were great for 'cross but a little chilly on the start line.

Off we went and was mildly better off the line and before we got too far down the course I had jumped in the lead.  Rode the first two laps at a good tempo with a couple guys setting close behind so 3/4 way thru the 2nd lap I made a solid effort for the next two laps and the gap opened.  I was able to ride a fairly clean race and was fortunate to snag another win. 

 

I have yet to clip in clean at a start this year, but its getting better

 

 

***Above photos from the shutter master himself Roger Harrison.  I take the photos and do a little editing via picmonkey.com.

360 Racing did a great job both days on the course and support.  I'll be back.

Packed up and headed home.

So this concludes my first month of races and the end of my first designated block.  This week is total recover with no racing next weekend then it's more tuning as some bigger races approach.  My body is telling me the rest is needed, but  

Next up is the Oakley Night Cap in Des Moines, IA on the 19th (masters at 5pm and then Open at 10pm).