S.C.X. #5/Maris Farms

Sunday was a good day as we loaded up the True North O.S.V. and headed down to Buckley to Maris Farms for the 5th stop on the S.C.X. Series. Maris Farms is a privately owned theme farm with pumpkin patches, corn mazes, petting zoo, animal acts/shows and more to promote the fall harvest time of year. This made a great location for a new cyclocross race with good terrain and plenty of challenge.
The course included some deep "peanut butter" mud through a huge pumpkin patch, twisty greasy mud through a portion of the corn maze and then a turning, and bumpy grind up and down some of the bumpiest grass I can remember. This finished up with a turn up a gravel road climb and starting all over again. With some key teammates not on hand; Todd Morse Tucker and Phil Oppenheimer, I knew that it might be up to me to anchor the team up front. Our team had a brief discussion before the race to discuss tactics and agreed that on this course, there would be little opportunity. With sitting 8th overall in the series, I was called up to the front row and lined up to the right. The gun went off, and we headed up the gravel climb, through the muddy turn, and dropped down into the muddy pumpkin patch. As soon as we hit the deep stuff, I noticed that five or six of us made it through with a gap. After the next section, it was down to three of us and we had a 15 meter split to the rest of the field. After the 2nd lap the three of us had probably a 20-30 second lead with Ronnie Schmeer joining us and the front two starting to pull clear of Schmeer and myself. The majority of the race looked like this with me and Schmeer going back and forth. My legs felt great, and the technical nature of the course was suiting me well. Many of the guys who are normally in the top standings were struggling leaving the door open for whoever had the fight.
With two laps to go, the sharp rocks caught up to me and I suffered a pinch flat right before dropping back into the pumpkin patch mud. I was able to roll the descents but had to pick it up and run the flats and climbs. This enabled a couple of riders to catch up to me before I made it to the pits for the bike change. My Bicycle Centers/Collision 1 Team in the pits were great and made the bike changes super smooth (as always). I continued riding out the last 2 laps trying to survive as the running effort with the bike began to take effect and fatigue front the course was setting in. I crossed the line in 6th place which I felt very good about. I'm riding very well, and my work is paying off.
I also have to congratulate Kristi on a well deserved win in the Elite Women's class. She went back and forth with Kari Studley and finally attacked her and stormed off for a convincing win. She is owning the series this year and looks good doing it.
Thanks again to my teammates for the support and sportsmanship that we constantly get. I love it.
Next week will be stop #7 at Sprinker Park in Spanaway. Great course and only 2 races in the SCX series left, means the fight for points will be fierce.
Talk to you soon.