Jingle Cross. Part 1: Hugs and High fives.

Yeah. What to say? All sorts of fun times over the weekend. Worked a 1/2 day, hung out with Margaret until Jake (Helmbrech. MN CRY C class champion and all around good guy) showed up and we loaded my things into/onto the car and headed to pick up Julia. Good times. two bikes and a wheel on top (more on that later) and a bunch of stuff inside. Did you know that there are still gas stations that don't use pay-at-the-pump? I didn't. until we got into the heart of nothingness that Iowa seems to be. Somewhere in Iowa Jake's front wheel fell off the car as well. Just driving down the freeway. THUNK! we didn't have to walk back very far to find it, and it was still perfectly true and all, but the on the freeway wearing black isn't really the place you want to be at night. Probably especially in Iowa. Oh well. It was a 5 hour car ride and we left St. Paul at around 4:30. That means that we missed packet pickup by a solid 30 minutes. That sucked. Both Jake and I would have liked to have picked up our rider packets the night before. Far from necessary, though.

Well, we got in and before I get a step into the door I get a hug from Ben Popper. That was something that I was looking forward too. I haven't seen him (or Dan, for that matter) since my wedding. Far too long. It was super nice to see them and we all hung out in their room (with new friends Mike and Tim) until it was asleep time.

I was staying in a room with a couple of LGR (little guy racing) members (4 of them) so space was a bit tight, but I got a good nights sleep and woke up early. Ate a bagel and drank a bunch of water, then rode out to the course with Dan while Ben and Mike drove there. Found it easy. regrouped. Got there early enough to ride a lap before the beginner race started. I was happy about that. It's nice to know what you're in for before hand. I've neglected to do a lap at a couple races this season, and while I don't think it's a HUGE drawback, it is nice to be somewhat familiar with where the hills and turns are.

And turns there were. Not a lot of hills, but the ones that were on the course definitely counted. It was a fun course. Definite powerfest (the way I like 'em). Start down a fairly long straight, 180. straight. double barriers. Turn left while remounting. some windy stretch. turn. past some barns (and through one that held a sand pit, and probably animal poo pit). The entire front half of the course seemed either long-ish and straight-ish or a whole bunch of 180's. I'm good at the former, and pretty bad at the latter. go out a pretty long straight and hit a giant banked 180. that part was a blast. then head over to some rutted out 180's through mud and over logs. Then over to a really big uphill. One of my favorite parts of the course. (I have three. The banked 180, the uphill, and the finish stretch) Up the winding hill. Wind a bit at the top, and then come down the other side. Pretty much screaming down the other side (something else I'm not very good at. I lack confidence) Not as long as the uphill, but a lot steeper. I honestly can't remember the course between this part and the finish. I have a hard time remembering details of races. I know that the finish straight was really long and gravel, and definitely a good part to haul ass. The laps were fairly long. We did 5 in 45 minutes. I had a good first day. Finished 14th and beat all other riders from Minnesota (a point of pride for me, but only because Matt Allen was having a ton of chain troubles.

I lined up right beside Mike Hemme (killjoy) and we were chatting away. Through the start. We all stood there after we lined up for about 3 minutes. Pretty quiet. People talking. Jake was stretching his hamstring with his ankle on the handlebars. I asked Mike when they were going to start the race, and then everyone in front of us takes off. I had both of my feet on the ground. Totally unexpected for anyone after the third row. But hell, that's life. We went off. I didn't have a great start, but that's what happens when you start 60 riders back. Nothing really noteable here. Just making up ground. Going slower than I wanted due to rider traffic. Everything was pretty congested until after the sandpit. That spread people out. I wanted to ride it, and I did after the first lap, but there way too many people in the way the first time through. Settled into a rhythm and started playing catch up. Got a lot of people on the run up. Got a lot of people on the uphill. lost some spots on the downhill. Made them up at the finish stretch. I pretty much sat in and/or recovered unless it was one of those stretches. finished the first lap. Lap counter said 4 more. Thought "Easy!" We did 9 laps at the State Champs, and the last race before that I did was an A race. 5 more laps seemed very little. Oh well.

I was settling into a rhythm. My goals going into the race was top 20. Didn't think much past that. I saw Jake a bit up the course and I got him. He slowed for me a bit, I think. Regardless. We rode the last 1/2 a lap together. I knew that if he got to the top of the hill before me he'd beat me to the line. I also knew that if I got the hill first I had him. I almost asked him if he wanted to ride to the finish straight together and then just sprint it out (repeat of Lake Rebecca. He beat me there). I couldn't get the words out. No bother. I hung behind him until the base of the hill and took off. I got past him on the first stretch and didn't look back until we were down it. I had it. It was just him and I riding near us. (I knew we were sitting somewhere in the field. not sure where though...After the race but before results Mike and I assumed a bit better than 20th). I just gassed it to the line and rode a bit to cool down. (sorry. that's vague. Remember what I said about not remembering details? I remember passing Matt on the second lap while he was messing with his chain. I remember passing Spencer on the uphill. That's about it. Never saw Mike. That's about all I remember)

Turns out that I ended up in 14th, Jake in 15th and Mike in 10th. That sucker beat me. I'm ok with it. He's proven to be a worthy adversary. As is Jake, but I have a history with him. That's about it for my race. It was fast. It was fun. I settled in and didn't drive as much as I should have. But I could say that about pretty much any of my race.

Enough about me. Minnesota came out in force! The dude that got 3rd in the C class CRY (Joe Schlechter) won the beginner race both days(but I hear he finished the C class CRY pretty well last year too. That means that he is NOT a beginner and shouldn't be racing as one. Upgrade when you earn it, guys!) Linda Sone finished 3rd in the UCI Elite womens race. Dewey Dickey and Dan Casper finished 1 and 2 in the 35+ race (Ahead of Kevin - Killjoy- in 3rd). Bjorne Selander took 3rd in the Mens Elite UCI race. Adam Bergemann Finished 7th in UCI Elite. Ben Popper (killjoy-chicago) rode a great race and finished in 20th. Well deserved and well done, Ben!

We went back the hotel and Ben, Mike and I got payed out and sat around for a bit. Showered (separately) and changed. I went out for indian food with the Little Guy team and then went and hung out at 3rd base. Got a pitcher of Shirley Temple and shot animated sheep. and turkeys. Had some fun. Got real tired. went back the the hotel. Long day. Fun day. Was looking forward to day 2.