A week ago was the Trek CXC Cup, ya, i'm a bit behind on things, but I haven't really thought to write until now, while sitting in a hotel room, after racing some DH and having the XC race get cancelled because of to much rain. But thats a different story. The Trek CXC Cup was my first real cross race where I could test my legs against everyone else. I was really excited seeing how the race was hosted by Trek at Trek World Headquarters in Waterloo, WI. Day number 1 was a bit overcast but no rain. When I arrived, I went inside Trek to register and to check out the sweet bikes they had displayed. I think the 2 coolest ones were Fabians winning Paris Roubaix bike that was still dirty and Katie Compton's National Champ bike, still dirty. Fabians bike was tricked out with some sweet stuff. Just a couple things were his derailleur cage was beefed up and full carbon, his cranks/chain rings I believe were a bit different and the sick Spartacus paint job. Onto the race. It was a fun course with a steep climb near the start, a set of barriers, a tricky little decent, and a lot of fast corners. I pre rode the course 3 times before racing and felt really comfortable with it all. I rode the steep hill in practice but didn't try it until day 2 during the race. When it got to be race time, they called you up by how you registered, so I was 6th row, number 56 out of 85ish. When the ref blew his whistle, I knew I had to move up as fast as possible. I snuck up the right side of the start straight and about 1/2 way in I was sitting top 10 and moving up. Each lap I tried to catch the leaders, but starting so far back they had about a 30-40 second lead already. I still pushed and caught people each lap and ended up 6th, missing 5th by 6 seconds. Not expecting much, I was really happy with this, a great result to start the weekend. Then on day 2 it was the same stuff just a different day. The course changed slightly but it was for the better. Corners smoothed out and the descent was changed and was a little bit more tricky. Then after riding it a couple times it was race time. Got called up this time 58th out of 100 or so. I knew I had the legs to move up and thats exactly what I did. I was top 10 before the steep hill, which was about 1-2 minutes in. I pushed hard to catch the leaders, but seeing how day 2 was a UC 1, a couple more faster guys came out and drove the pace. I never caught them, but I did manage to hold position and ended up sprinting for 7th with Mike M, a friend of mine. He got me and I took 8th. My race was great, I felt fast and I finished 1min 10 faster then day 1. Now after getting a taste of cross, I want more!! But with collegiate still going on, its back to MTB racing for me.My name is Ben and I am a cyclist. I'm a college student who is majoring in business. This blog will mainly be about my journey through the ranks of cycling, but there will be the occasional post about my everyday life. I hope you enjoy.
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Trek CXC Cup
A week ago was the Trek CXC Cup, ya, i'm a bit behind on things, but I haven't really thought to write until now, while sitting in a hotel room, after racing some DH and having the XC race get cancelled because of to much rain. But thats a different story. The Trek CXC Cup was my first real cross race where I could test my legs against everyone else. I was really excited seeing how the race was hosted by Trek at Trek World Headquarters in Waterloo, WI. Day number 1 was a bit overcast but no rain. When I arrived, I went inside Trek to register and to check out the sweet bikes they had displayed. I think the 2 coolest ones were Fabians winning Paris Roubaix bike that was still dirty and Katie Compton's National Champ bike, still dirty. Fabians bike was tricked out with some sweet stuff. Just a couple things were his derailleur cage was beefed up and full carbon, his cranks/chain rings I believe were a bit different and the sick Spartacus paint job. Onto the race. It was a fun course with a steep climb near the start, a set of barriers, a tricky little decent, and a lot of fast corners. I pre rode the course 3 times before racing and felt really comfortable with it all. I rode the steep hill in practice but didn't try it until day 2 during the race. When it got to be race time, they called you up by how you registered, so I was 6th row, number 56 out of 85ish. When the ref blew his whistle, I knew I had to move up as fast as possible. I snuck up the right side of the start straight and about 1/2 way in I was sitting top 10 and moving up. Each lap I tried to catch the leaders, but starting so far back they had about a 30-40 second lead already. I still pushed and caught people each lap and ended up 6th, missing 5th by 6 seconds. Not expecting much, I was really happy with this, a great result to start the weekend. Then on day 2 it was the same stuff just a different day. The course changed slightly but it was for the better. Corners smoothed out and the descent was changed and was a little bit more tricky. Then after riding it a couple times it was race time. Got called up this time 58th out of 100 or so. I knew I had the legs to move up and thats exactly what I did. I was top 10 before the steep hill, which was about 1-2 minutes in. I pushed hard to catch the leaders, but seeing how day 2 was a UC 1, a couple more faster guys came out and drove the pace. I never caught them, but I did manage to hold position and ended up sprinting for 7th with Mike M, a friend of mine. He got me and I took 8th. My race was great, I felt fast and I finished 1min 10 faster then day 1. Now after getting a taste of cross, I want more!! But with collegiate still going on, its back to MTB racing for me.
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