capital 'cross classic...

raced my second B race this weekend and had a pretty different result than 2 weeks ago, but not far from what i expected. thanks to bad weather and various holiday events i haven't managed much riding in the last few weeks so i was definitely off from the form i was in for the first few races of the year and on top of that i stayed out a little later the night before and had a couple more drinks than i normally would have had, so i wasn't expecting a great day. the field was definately bigger and looked stronger than the leesburg race as we waited to line up for the start and my sizing up of the field was not incorrect.

the start of the race was really fast and the pace never let up. i was somewhere in the middle of the pack for the first half of the first lap, but got caught in the back of a bunch going into one of the courses technical features (a short steep and slick climb up around a tree) and was forced into a bad line and crashed, then got the bike hung up on a small tree while i was trying to get back on and wound up being passed by a lot of guys.

the course was a typical reston course: fast with a lot of climbing, a couple of turns that get muddy, and a couple of technical sections. i was able to use the climbs to get back up to where i was a the start by the end of the 2nd lap, but then the length of the race (and the sake and beer from the night before) started to take it's toll and i started drifting back through the pack. i ended up in 38th out of 49 finishers, about where i'd expected to be in a B race, but a little disappointed by the fact that guys i was near 2 weeks ago at leesburg where 10-15 places ahead of me. i'll be heading up to fair hill next weekend for at least one of the races, probably sunday's.