Whoa...Snow! Kanata CX Madness



Sunday's serpentine ribbon of mud. Classic cyclocross.

An important note before I go on, just in from Ian Austin: Bob Woods and Ian may have to revise the schedule for at least this coming weekend, if not all of November. The venue for Nov. 7 will be posted on cyclocross.org on either Wednesday or Thursday.  A complete schedule for the remainder of the month will follow.

I'll just provide a few words on Sunday's race in Kanata. First, thanks to the EMD-Sorono gentlemen for their key role in designing and setting up the course. It was certainly the most fun course I've raced in Kanata, and seemed just right given the snowy conditions. The mud was mostly thin and flowing, so the tires rolled fairly well in the second race, and it was a lot of fun navigating every turn. I found pedaling through them a good method. Brakes were mostly ineffective, though there was just one turn that required slowing down fast. 

Jamie took a good hosing of mud, and almost stuck with David and Rob

  

My team edition face-paint didn't manage to intimidate my rivals enough for them to allow me to ride away from them. No, quite the contrary. As you can see, I bailed in the slop. No big deal, just mucky.

Though still recovering from a lung infection, I was pleased to improve on last week's performance, clawing my way closer to the riders I normally would be chasing. Poor Imad had a series of crashes, including one over the bars on the first lap, but battled on and still wound up a couple spots ahead. I was happy to have opportunity to follow Kris Westwood for more than a lap, observing his technique and line choices. I wondered whether he was modulating his pace to ensure his team-mate Craig Hawkes would maintain a gap; I'll likely never know. I made my move on the last lap, but it was too late to catch Craig, so 4th place it was. Hard to be unhappy with that while ill.

I've got a bike to clean, tubular to glue, hopefully, a new bike to build tomorrow night, and some trainer riding to do, so that's it for this post...with the exception of sending well wishes to Vytas, who suffered a double fracture to a leg during Sunday's first race. I wish you a speedy and full recovery Vytas, and I hope to see you back on your bike in the spring.