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!