Let's give this a whirl...

Well I have had fun perusing the blogs of my club teammates and I'd figured I'd give it a whirl!

This weekend in picturesque Kansas City, the US National Cyclocross Championships are going on in the middle of some pretty eratic weather-looks like the folks from New England are giving the crowd a strong run based on the podiums-Bavineau and Keough plus Cort Cramer posting a top 20-which is awesome! Kevin Hines throwin' down with Tilford is great to see as well. Nice work also by the other MRCers that made the trek: Jorge, Lowry, the Goguen clan, Rich, Rob "I have had zero mechanical luck this year" Bauer, and anyone I may have forgotten? GD's late season form would have been a threat, too bad he didn't make the trip!

My first experience with Nationals was as a spectator last year down in Rhode Island and it's just amazing to see the speed and skills present across the fields. I expect to see 'amazingness' when the elites sprint off the line, but the level of competition across the masters men and women's fields is pretty impressive. I love watching skilled riders going over the barriers-to me they look like expert bump skiers, their heads seeming to stay on the same plane with just their lower bodies zipping by-it's poetry in motion. Me on the other hand....well, I have work to do, let's just leave it at that.

As a newbie to 'cross, my goal for next year is to earn some upgrade points and consistency. I want to do the MRC proud. Most of my results this year were top half which isn't all that bad considering that I have limited racing experience overall. But now the motivation is there to work hard and get better! I need to consistently put in base miles this winter and spring, and then work toward tuning the engine for cross season. Doing my best to keep up the MRC dudes should help!

Good luck to the MRC crew in KC and all the New England riders hittin' it this weekend!!! As for me...well, I'm relegated to trainer sessions at night and finishing the deck railings by day.