First Collegiate Race of the Year

This past weekend was the East Collegiate Cycling Conference opening weekend and it was hosted by none other that UMASS. The race was held in West Dover, VT (where Mt Snow is) so we were able to once again stay at Sean's place. As I did not race in August it did not really rain, so when the weather heard I was racing again it of course rained and rained. So Saturday was the cross country race, on a trail that would have been sweet if it had been dry, but like I said it was raining and it was wet. My race went all right, I was having trouble keeping control through all of the slippery mud and roots, and then came the swamp section. The swamp section was full of huge mud bogs and puddles. I was in the lead until this point, this season my single biggest problem has been extended mud bogs. I can't seem to pick a good line and I just get stuck, and then everyone blows by me. Either way I dropped back a few positions, and then had to do this for four laps. I ended up coming in second place behind a storming Chris Hamlin, who had a great race.

Sunday was short track, and luckily it was not raining, but it was still not dry from the day before. Long story short, I came in second once again, behind Chris. It was a pretty fun course that was really difficult, with a hard climb and some really slippery downhills.



All and all it was a good weekend. I am not sure that not racing for about 5 weeks is the best way to prepare for fall racing, but I may come into good form in a few weeks. A lot of thanks goes out to Hucker Joe, who nearly single-handily set up and controlled all four races from the UMASS weekend. Thanks is also due to Sean for letting us use his place, and Jeremy who like Joe placed a big part in making sure all the races went off right!