ups and downs

Two great CT races this weekend presented a couple of opportunities to prepare for Canton next week. Two great courses. Mansfield is always a blast and I encourage everyone to consider it for next year. They had HUGE payouts (as in money) for most fields. A really hard course. Free food. Good tunes. The most under-rated race on the circuit. Southington was also a great race. I really like this course too. Very few sections to rest. Three sand features. Lots of good turns. Just a blast.

Also got to do some carpooling with Myette and Kenny this weekend. And I was psyched that the bride was able to come down and spectate on Sunday, even though she just finished an overnight shift and slept for only a couple of hours. It's so much more fun to drive with someone than drive alone. I get enough of driving alone for work. We had Matt's kids, Charlie and Cory, on Saturday and they are so much fun to have around. So darn cute! We also got to have Hup teammates Josh and Sarah stay with us Friday night. We ate burritos, watched Spinal Tap, and laughed about the generation gap. I think we figured out that I did my first cross race when Josh was 4. Time moves on.

Mansfield Cat 3/4
No comment. Well OK, small comment. Flatted in the first corner. Watched everyone ride away. Got to the pit and changed front wheels and then checked on Matt who was stopped on the side of the course. We rode the rest for training. Hands on the tops. Go hard when you want. Saw Oscar J off in the distance on the last lap. Decided to catch him. Led him out for the sprint. Good fun and a good training ride. 18th out of 32 starters.

Southington Cat 1/2/3
60 minutes. I haven't done a long one like this yet. The first three laps were a blur. There were some fast A racers in the group and they got an immediate gap. There was a group forming just ahead of me. Looked to be about 7 riders strong. It included Rosey, Kenny, and Sean C from Bethel. Super fast, super nice guy that Sean fella. They didn't show lap cards until going into our 4th lap. 6 to go (total of 9). Funny thing happened at that moment. That group shattered. I think some of the guys were just a little demoralized by the lap count. So, while I never caught that group ahead, I went by some of the splinters. I think I gained 3 spots on that lap. All that remained from that group ahead of me were Rosey, Cav, Kenny and one other fella I didn't know. They popped Kenny with 2 to go and I caught him. We stayed together for a bit, but I wanted to dish out a little revenge for Gloucester and charged up one of the harder pedalling sections. That's how it all settled out for the last two laps. Cav ended up getting the better of Rosey, the other guy finished between me and Rosey and Kenny was just behind me. End result was 14th out of 32 starters. I was pleased that I felt good going the extra 15 minutes.

From here on out, all of the races are 2/3 races except for the 3/4 races at Brockton, Plymouth and Putney. So my cat 2 upgrade points chase may be over for the most part. But it will be awesome battling in those fields. Next up is a fun race on Saturday and one of the best races of the season at Canton. Hey, thanks for reading!