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Photo credits: H.Costigan, B.Swider [My Cat 4/5 45+ lap 1 video | My pictures of the Masters 45+/55+ and 35+ races] I arrived, signed in, and took a preride lap. Having not ridden snow before, I didn't really know what to expect. Well, it feels a lot like sand, maybe a bit easier. The course was fairly different from Saturday (which I didn't race). Most notably, we went down the steep run-up from Saturday. And the Saturday guys certainly didn't take any care to keep the section divot-free. It was a filling-rattler where the smart move was simply to let the bike roll even though self-preservation screamed brakebrakebrake. I lined up well behind Lewis C and Steve B and in the mix with Michael O, Eric P, Dan A, and Dan S. The temps were a bit above freezing, much warmer than Saturday. The whistle blew and we were off. I got a nice start and pulled ahead of Eric ... where I stayed through the first lap and almost all of the second. I don't think I would have held him off in any event, but dropping my chain on the divot-descent didn't help. Lap 1 was congested, more so than usual. The snow turned simple turns into true course elements, and there were relatively few true power sections. That favored me, and unlike my last two outings, I stayed on the lead lap. Commit to the rut, trust the tires, run the lead-up to the divot-descent and the short stretch that followed. I spent laps 3 and 4 chasing Eric, sometimes in sight, sometimes not. He was out of reach but in sight as we approached the finish--I was more concerned with the guy behind me. I had plenty of distance on him, but that didn't stop me from blowing it. I went hard to the line, but didn't all-out sprint, and he nabbed me by half a wheel when he had no business doing so. Turns out, it was a good lesson, as he wasn't in the 35+ or 45+ fields and it didn't cost me a place. I finished 30 of 38 in the combined 35+/45+ field, 16 of 20 in the 45+ field. That includes 1 DNS but no DNFs, so Cross Results may end up showing me having done a bit better. Overall, one of the funnest races of the season. Sterling was my second CX race ever back in 2012, on Bob J's mudhoney. It was cold and dry that year. This year, it was like kids playing in the snow. The mood was light, racers were falling and laughing all over the place, and we all became better bike handlers. The Numbers: click here for Strava
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