STXC #2

Unlike last week, the Boulder Short Track races this week would be held under a mostly blue sky, but with a stiff wind. Participation this week would be quite a bit higher with most races having about double the number of riders from last week. BSV had a great turn out, especially in the Men's B and C races with 4 and 5 BSV entrants each. BSV jerseys were everywhere - even Rob's mom was there sporting one.

I raced the Men's C race again as did Bryan, Pete, Ernie, Ron and Bob Prieto (riding incognito in a US Navy jersey). The course this week was much longer than last week's. It included a coupleof nice 180 deg banked turns, a couple of short steep climbs, one following a tight turn that forced most riders to lose their momentum, and a series of four or five 2 foot bumps just before the finishing stretch that were spaced so you couldn't really ride them very fast.

I got to the start a bit late and lined up behind most of the 22 other riders in the third row. Several of us got bad positioning at the start - with Ernie and I being near the back as we were funneled into the single track about 50 yards from the start. Bryan and Pete repeated their smoking starts from last week. They were too far in front for me to see, but I think they were both in the top three. I was in about 20th or so and resigned to riding a race of picking off riders when I could. Starting further back allowed me to better taste Boulder - I'll pass on the dust, thank you and also gives you a chance to enjoy the scenery more as you stop behind the clog of riders funneled into the sharp, narrow turns. Next time I think I'll get to the start earlier and be aggressive in sprinting for position.

Well, my race essentially consisted of me riding behind small groups of racers, passing them on wide flat or uphill sections, then working to catch the next group before the next passing zone, passing them, etc. This was pretty much how it went, except for one guy who decided to sprint when I tried to pass him, making me have to use a 2nd passing zone to move ahead of him. Unfortunately, with a bit less than one and a half a laps to go I passed Bryan who was running with his bike. Later I learned that he was in the top couple of positions (I'm not sure, but I think first or second) when he broke his chain... he would have had a great position in the series after two races with his first place finish last week. Watch out for Bryan next week - he's going to be extra hungry.

With a 20 minute race and lots of single track, a bad start pretty much led me to having a goal of finishing in the top 10. I actually, never quite knew what my position was and when I finished the announcer said something like "here comes Charles Musgrave, finishing in the top 10" so I was glad I met my goal. After hanging out for awhile, watching a great B race with Mike, Rob and Chris Madden (and Peter I think) and eating a brat provided by Full Cycle I checked the results and was stoked to see that I finished 4th (I hope that 4 was a four and not a 9!). That was pretty much icing on the cake as I again was more interested in not crashing, not getting hurt, learning how to race short track and hoping to finish in the top 10.

That's pretty much my race perspective - I'm hoping to read what some of my teammates experienced out there. Looking forward to next week!

Charles