Quick note on today's Anvil Cross, put on by the Ride With Rendall crew at the Nepean Equestrian Centre today. The RWR ladies and gents, and OCA staff and volunteers put on one heck of a great race. In a word, the course was awesome. Despite minimal elevation change to work with, the course snaked across the grounds like a plate of spaghetti; perfect. This was the first course I've raced that felt like I'd expect a Euro course to ride. The grass was for the most part smooth, there was sand, mud, and excellent off cambers. I suspected Glen and Greg would throw down a fantastic course, and they delivered. Thanks guys, its much appreciated!
Tall Tree riders made a strong showing today with Anna taking 6th in the women's race, Neil in 4th (in the money!), me back in 9th, and Jamie in 19th, all Senior men (couldn't race masters). Rob and Dave put in their first races of the season and rode really well to 4th and 5th respectively. Well done guys!
I think I managed to spend the most time on the ground today, twice crashing on the same off camber turn. On both occasions I turned my bars, twisted one or both hoods and dropped my chain. One of those times I took out Warren MacDonald, as I slid from the inside into him. I apologized, it was dumb. My third sweet maneuver was a pedal slip out of the same turn, which landed me with both feet on the ground, followed by a Flintstone maneuver up the rest of the hill. Tricia tried to tell my chain was off, again, but I wouldn't hear it. Doh. I certainly provided plenty of entertainment for the throng of carnage seekers on that turn. Apparently I wasn't the only one spazzing out, which is a minor consolation. I kept on telling myself, "wish I had a Challenge Fango on here." I should have just focused on riding better.
With the cold rain coming down the course became very slick in many turns, which was pretty hairy. It was a lot of fun. I hope RWR does this more.
Mike Bennett took a tone of photos. Check them out here.
Sunday should be the biggest race to grace Ottawa in the cross department for some time. I am personally quite excited. Many friends are coming to support us, as are my wife and daughter, cowbells in hand. More than anything, I hope everybody has a great time and cross gets a boost from the event. The more the merrier. I hope to race smart, keep the rubber down, and stay positive and aggressive the whole time. Tune in tomorrow night for a report.
No comments:
Post a Comment