GP of Gloucester Cross 10/2/11

Great race today! Got my bike set up Saturday night in the nick of time for the race on Sunday. It was announced that the race was starting at 3, 30 min. later then it was planned. This was due to a sewage leak on the course having to be re-taped! I pulled the highest number, so I was literally THE LAST person called up. I was 5 rows back, since I have not done any aces this season. But after racing strong today and seeing how much more confident I am on the course than last year, I know I will continue to gather points throughout the season. The whistle blew and I tried to pass several people up the first hill, but it was hard, since no one was really moving up in front of me. I got stuck over in the orange barricades, that are evil! In the first section on the grass, it was really twisty and everyone was on their brakes. I was so annoyed and did my best to get around people on the outside. Throughout the first 1/2 of the first lap I ended up passing about 30 people! I was stoked. I just got into a solid rhythm and kept hammering the rest of the race. The smile in my heart never left the entire race. I had so much fun out there!!!! I placed 21st out of 47 racers. I got an awesome shout out for NorEast on two occasions. The first was due to my impressive moving up and the second due to grabbing $3 on the run up by the beer tent. Whooot! It was cool to have the crowd cheering at me for my attempt. My left calf cramped up on the last lap on the first run up section on the course. It is apparent I need to get some running work under my belt during the remainder of the season. I felt like that was where I lost the most of my time, along with the dismount at the barriers. I need to work at coming at them with enough speed and carrying it through confidently. I was really happy that my back was not in pain. This was a huge issue for me last year and caused me to not be able to finish many races and have a bad rapport with Cross. I am glad that I had a successful race and feel much better about participating in the discipline. I cannot wait to race at Night Weasels this Wednesday night under the lights and at Providence UCI races this weekend.