The PowerBar Booth: Volunteering at the CVS Caremark 5k

I volunteered at the PowerBar booth at the CVS Caremark 5k in Providene, RI.  It was a great day, and thousands of people came out for the event.  I was very busy at the booth, passing out PowerBar products to the participants.  It was fun to see and meet a wide variety of people, from small children in shorter races to the elite athletes who won the main 5k.  I must have passed out a few thousand products, congratulations to everyone who ran in the event!

Quad Cross and Blanford Beer Cross

The past two weekends I raced at Quad Cross and then at Competitive Edge's Blanford Beer Cross.  

I had never done the Quad Cross before, but I have always heard it was a fun race, so Caroline and I headed over to Eastern Massachusetts to give it a go.  As the race went off it was clear that I had put too many hard days in on the bike before the race, my legs were a little bit heavy and I did not have the power to push out of corners.  I kept pushing trying to catch people on the twisty sections and barriers, as seen below:

  

At the end of the day I crossed the line in 11th place, just out of the top 10.

The Blanford Cross Race was hosted by Competitive Edge and I would  like to thank Jen specifically for putting together an awesome event, way to go Jen!  It was a great day for a race, nice crisp fall air with the sun keeping everyone warm, perfect for cross.  I went with the PowerBar Strawberry Banana Energy Gel to fuel up before the race.  The gun went off and we charged up the hill to the first corner.  I was sitting in third place fighting for position through the first few turns, managed to get around the guys through the corners, and then we came to a fast straight away.  At this point I was in the lead but three guys came storming by, so I pushed hard to try to get back on their wheels.  

I chased for a while until the guy behind me passed me, then I turned my attention to him.  We rode together for the next few laps, but I was feeling good and was able to get around him on a steep uphill.  I then pushed hard the rest of the race and crossed the line in 4th.  

It was a great two weekends of racing, and with the weather turning a little cooler, it is finally beginning to feel like cross season!  

Blunt Park Cyclocross- The Double!

After racing the Monson Cross race on Saturday, I was very excited to head over to Blunt Park on Sunday to race some more.  This time I was going to race 2 races, back to back!  My plan was to race the Cat 1,2,3 race and then turn right around and then race the Cat. 3,4 race.  It was 90 degrees, dusty, and humid, tough conditions for back to back races, but time to push my limits. 

The 1,2,3 race went out with a bang and never looked back.  I didn't have a chance to pre-ride the course so the first lap was wild, and dust was everywhere.  

After a few laps I got a feel for the course and was able to start moving.  I ended up placing 15th out of 21 riders, not where I wanted to be it is still early on in the cross season. 

After I crossed the finish line of the first race, I immediately turned right around and headed back to the starting line of the next race.  My wife Caroline had a cool towel and a PowerBar Strawberry Banana Energy Gel waiting for me, and I had about 8 minutes to catch my breath before the next one stated.  And here we go!

I was able to get a great start and was the first rider to get into the single track.  I was feeling good and leading the race for the first few laps, however as it was the second race of the day and the third of the weekend, I started to fade.  My teammate Sean kept pushing me, and I was able to keep going for a while, but he passed me and I went as hard as I could for the rest of the race.

At the end I crossed the line 7 out of 65, a great result, and a good way to finish up my three race weekend. Till next time!