My new mid-pack life

Last cross season, I finally broke through in the B races, with a bunch of podiums, a race win, and a series win. Of course, the consequences of that are a move up to As this year.

The transition’s been tough. From battling at the front every w

eek to struggling to stay on the lead lap. However, I’m slowly starting to adjust to the new group, and I’m actually managing to win a battle here and there. Today’s CCCX #4 race was held at CSU-Monterey Bay, which is a new venue for the series. Twisty, sandy, and devoid of any of the chicane-or-spiral-made-of-tape nonsense that often plagues cross races (and that CCCX, in particular, is prone to), it was very fun, if a little flatter than suits my skills.

For the first time this year, I didn’t end up in the last row at the start, and managed to hang on the end of the lead group for the first half-lap or so. Unfortunately, the first trip through the woods section, the tail end of the group lost contact with the leaders, and that was the end of my view of the front guys.

I managed to limit my losses to three places from then on out, and even managed to claw back one of those three. I ended up 11th of 20. Not quite in the top half, but certainly my best result of the year. Progress is progress, and I’ll take it.