Fourth Race (State Champs, Magnusson Park)

I got to the course early, and did a good warm-up on the course. The course had a very wide starting section, that narrowed and twisted around on some wet grass, and then opened to a long paved section that led to the back of the park.. Here’s where things got medieval. In the back of the park there was a huge mud lake that the course went across. The mud varied between a few inches deep to a foot deep. It was so murky there was no way to know what to expect. After that and a short ride able run up, the course went out and back over thick mud, over a barrier and around again. I practiced traversing the mud lake 10 - 15 times, and then watched the Masters Men C's race traverse the tricky spots.

On the line up for my race I again started back; in the, you have too few points to matter position. A bag piper started the race, and we were off. The course was wide enough that I was easily able to get in the top 10 by the first few corners. Then we were on the paved section, here's were I made my move. Hello road skills. I moved from the top 10 to 1st position. I wanted to be first through the mud lake, to avoid being bogged down by other riders, or worse crashed out. On the start of the 2nd lap I still held first. I sorta eased up a bit. No reason to work too hard :). And then I slipped on a muddy grass corner, ohh noo, and by the time I was up I was back in 6th. By the time I passed the starting line again (end of the second lap), I was in 4th position, and then the announcer said "There are prizes for the top three", prizes! Well, at that point I thought 4th place would be just the suckyist place to finish. By the end of the 3rd lap, I was in second, with the rider in 3rd right on my tail. When I can put out power I do fairly well, but he was faster over the barriers and through the twisty stuff then I was. So when I hit the paved section on the final lap, I knew I needed to put some distance. I put the hammer down, and 2nd place was mine. The prize, a cool silver medal USCF State Chap. First thing I've ever won for cycling.