Lumberjack Cross
Today was the first cross race in Port Alberni ( one of my favorite venues for any racing ) and all my talk of a dry cross season really got smacked away today. It poured as soon as we turned onto the Alberni Highway. Oh well, its more fun in the mud right? the venue was Maclean Mill, a National Heritage site and man it was cool. The mill was still standing with a lot of the old equipment still scattered around the grounds which made it my fave spot all series. On to the race...or the pre race rigamaroo. 
I decided to put a fender on and go pre ride the course, mostly to stay warm. Going super slow so not to get my feet too wet, was stoked on the course, long climb followed by greasy single track descent and then SNAP!!!! ripped my derailleur into two bits.....bummer. Asked around fro a derailleur, no takers. Meh, i was gonna sit it out then Norm called me out and offered up his Kona. Now Norm is a little bit smaller then me which means his bike is pretty frigging small too, but WTF, he called me out. 
I gotta do it for my pride....and to show him I am more then just a pretty face in big pink Crocs!! :) So with no warm up and about 20 mins to swap pedals, post, pin my number and squeeze into my skin-suit I made it to the line. Right off the bat I knew my saddle was to low but oh well. I got a great start with Jordan, Justin and Mitch and was going to hang with Mitch and try and ride away from the other two. We are already soaked a half lap in and going as hard as we could. We started pulling away on the descents and Mitch Said " lets drop the roadies" lol. We came to a small grass hill and Stood to climb over and both knees hit under the handlebar.....oh ya, small bike!!
lol All is good and I rode with Mitch for a while, trading places until later on the hill l he looked a little rough so I attacked. Took me a while to create space but soon I was riding by myself, which i hate cause i cant gauge my speed and always feel like i am going slow. Jordan really put the pressure on me and pushed me to keep the gas on. Finished up winning on the circus bike, Jordan 2nd and Justin had a great race to finish 3rd. Chris and Mitch rounded out my 5 deep podium. Wicked race by all involved. Special thanks to Lee and Eric from P.A. for allowing the use of a wicked venue. To Katy and Roland for the help with time and of course Norm and Wendy for continuing to put on this series. A ton of folks are grateful that you continue to keep cycling going on the island, especially with how busy you always are. And a big thanks to Norm for the use of the Jake.
I decided to put a fender on and go pre ride the course, mostly to stay warm. Going super slow so not to get my feet too wet, was stoked on the course, long climb followed by greasy single track descent and then SNAP!!!! ripped my derailleur into two bits.....bummer. Asked around fro a derailleur, no takers. Meh, i was gonna sit it out then Norm called me out and offered up his Kona. Now Norm is a little bit smaller then me which means his bike is pretty frigging small too, but WTF, he called me out. 
I gotta do it for my pride....and to show him I am more then just a pretty face in big pink Crocs!! :) So with no warm up and about 20 mins to swap pedals, post, pin my number and squeeze into my skin-suit I made it to the line. Right off the bat I knew my saddle was to low but oh well. I got a great start with Jordan, Justin and Mitch and was going to hang with Mitch and try and ride away from the other two. We are already soaked a half lap in and going as hard as we could. We started pulling away on the descents and Mitch Said " lets drop the roadies" lol. We came to a small grass hill and Stood to climb over and both knees hit under the handlebar.....oh ya, small bike!!
lol All is good and I rode with Mitch for a while, trading places until later on the hill l he looked a little rough so I attacked. Took me a while to create space but soon I was riding by myself, which i hate cause i cant gauge my speed and always feel like i am going slow. Jordan really put the pressure on me and pushed me to keep the gas on. Finished up winning on the circus bike, Jordan 2nd and Justin had a great race to finish 3rd. Chris and Mitch rounded out my 5 deep podium. Wicked race by all involved. Special thanks to Lee and Eric from P.A. for allowing the use of a wicked venue. To Katy and Roland for the help with time and of course Norm and Wendy for continuing to put on this series. A ton of folks are grateful that you continue to keep cycling going on the island, especially with how busy you always are. And a big thanks to Norm for the use of the Jake.
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