It's a Learning Thing

It has been a while since I have last posted and honestly a lot has happened. That is most likely why I have not found the time to post. So I'll go back to where we left off, the day before leaving for Gloucester.

Friday morning I got to wake up bright and early around 5:00, get in the car and start driving. I was planning to be at the University of Connecticut by 11:30. We get rolling and everything is fine, I'm out like a light sleeping the miles away. This was great, until we hit traffic. It started at the Garden State Parkway and basically did not end until Gloucester. It took almost seven hours to get to UConn, it should have taken four. I take a tour of the campus , which took about two hours. I did not really like it, for a few reasons. I guess the search is still on. We leave UConn and start driving the long haul out past Boston to Gloucester. After quite a few more miles and hours of traffic we finally arrive at our hotel. It was a nice little place only a 5 minute bike ride away from the race venue. Wade arrives shortly after I did, and after getting settled in we take off to the course to check it out and get a few laps in.
The Course was a pretty fast and pretty plain course, definitely not one of my favorites. It featured a steep uphill road start, one twisty barrier section run-up, and one rideable sand pit. After a few quick laps we took a cool down ride around the harbour. For those that have not been there before it is a nice coastal fishing town with a beautiful harbour that lets you see out to the horizon of the Atlantic Ocean. We get back to the hotel at the same time that the Gordon's arrive. After everyone gets settled in we head out to a local restaurant and get dinner. It was fun but I was not overly joyed with my pasta. I get back to the room and get to sleep, it should be a big day of racing.
I get up early, go out to breakfast, then suited up and headed over to the venue. After signing in, I take a few laps and start to warm up. My field is pretty stacked, it included the 15-16 National Champion. I had a front row start and I took advantage of this, I was third onto the dirt. After trading some places back in forth with some different riders, the national champion opened up a small gap. I was solidly in second place and chasing hard with about three laps left in the race. This is when disaster struck. A strong gust of wind blew the course tape across my handlebars which resulted in my body striking the ground with alot of force. My head impacted the ground pretty hard as well, and I could not move. Finally after about a minute or so, someone ran over to me and helped slide me off the course. I layed there for another few minutes and gradually collected myself. Then I did something that is not considered to be smart by conventional wisdom, I got back on the bike and started chasing. At this point I was already way down without a lot of time to get it back. However I would try, and I put in a good effort to finish 8th. The rest of the the weekend is history, I finished 7th on Sunday, managed to destroy a Campy Centaur Carbon rear derailleur, and really beat the crap out of myself. The following week went by slow and uneventful.
Finally Friday arrived, I was super stoked for the weekend. After school I went to work, tuned-up my bike and got it race ready for the opening weekend of the MAC. I left work a little early so I could get to the big football game at Clearview and have enough time to paint my chest/face. I painted a green and gold checkerboard on my chest and then a nice design on my face. It was time to cheer like mad. I never screamed quite so loud at a football game, it was pretty amusing. Everything was going great until we lost the game 8-7 in the final two minutes of the game. Oh well life goes on. I went home got the rest of my race gear together and went to bed early.
Saturday morning, Granogue. I am so excited that the MAC is finally here, I'm also feeling pretty nervous. There is going to be a lot of good competition and the previous weekend was not really helping my confidence any. Then you throw in a course like Granogue which is not only extremely difficult, but also pretty unforgiving. I arrive at the race around nine and immediately get to business. I get my number on, my race gear on, my pit bike ready, my race bike ready, pre-ride the course, and get to the start line. It is officially do or die time. I have a front row start thanks to a few spare points gained in the mud of Guy's cross and Evo Cross last year. The road start is long and fast and leads into a fast prologue loop that dumps the riders onto the hard-packed climb up around the tower. My first objective of the race will be to get to the front by the time I get to the tower. The gun goes off, I clip-in and start weaving my way through the riders in front of me. Angry Mark from Rutgers (started right next to me) shoots up the right side of the road and flys into the holeshot position just in time for the dirt. Mad-Props for that kind of start. I keep working my way up as we get to the base of the climb. I pass quite a few more people as I stomp on the pedals on my way up the climb. I get into third position right behind Eric Linder and Ethan Townsend. I know these two are strong and will be hard to beat, but I also know that sticking with them will definitely help my placings. As that lap continues, the race begins to string out more and more. It is still a three man group up front, with each of us trying little "testers" to see how we are all reacting. I look back and notice that Jeff Bahnson from Henry's Bikes is catching up. I know that he is really strong, not only for a 14 year-old but for anyone. So out of respect for him, I attack on the road section knowing that I do not want Jeff to catch up. Both Ethan and Eric mark my move and it is not long before I'm back to sitting third wheel. The race continues to unfold and I continue to wear down. Eric manages to open a gap and would end up stretching this out into a comfortable win. I continue to yo-yo off of Ethan's wheel, until I can no longer hold it. I stay close and finished only seconds behind him. I was definitely pleased with my result. I was happy with the way I raced and was excited to get another crack at it the very next day.
After Granogue I head down to the University of Delaware to visit my friend Kieth whom I have not seen since summer. I also wanted to visit the campus and get an idea of whether or not I would like to go there. The campus is really nice, the dorms from what I saw were really nice, and Delaware also had a lot of very good looking women there. Overall I really did like the school, and so I guess we'll see what happens when I apply. Anyway on a side story, I am walking across main street on the campus of Delaware when I see a Honda Element with a cross bike strapped to the roof roll up to the intersection. Turns out it is Marc Vettori from C3's squad. This does not really become funny until the next day.
Sunday morning kicks off with a pleasant little ride up to Ludwig's Corner, PA. Wissahickon cross, the course is roadie-friendly course that I really enjoy. I once again get right down to business with pre-riding the course. As I enter the spiral off death, I head a shout come from the other side of the spiral. It's Marc Vettori, "Hey Patrick! I hope those college girls didn't keep you up too late last night!" I just laugh, funny stuff, at least to me. So I finished up with the usually pre-race business and warm-up and get to the line for my start. This is where things kind of take a plunge in the negative direction. I am about to line up when Kelly Cline(Promoter and Friend) comes up and gives me some bad news. I am to be relegated back one row of riders because I apparently cross the start/finish area during the previous race. I take it and forget about it, I am still in the fourth row and there is plenty of room to move up. The race gets ready to start, I am feeling good. The gun goes off and I clip-in and get down to business for five feet. Two riders directly in front of me crash into each other and fall right into my path. I stop and am at a stand still. I have probably some 20 guys start crashing into me from behind, I see my front wheel just crumble. My first thought it "OH Shit! That cannot be good!" The rim actually snapped into two separate pieces held together with spokes. I immediately throw the bike onto my shoulder and begin to run. It is likely about a half a mile to the pit. I am losing ground so fast, that I start to think about giving up and calling it a wash. However the pit is getting closer and people are cheering me to keep going, plus I hate quiting. I get to the pit drop my bike and quickly grab my spare bike. I jump on and try to start catching up/recovering from running so far. I start to make up ground, trying to salvage my race and possibly my overall MAC standings. I switch back to my race bike(with new front wheel) and get down to business. "Keep going! Pick them off one by one! You're bringing them back!" That's all I hear as I pass the pits and various spots on the course. I'm thankful to every single person that yelled any encouraging words to me. I really get into a good rhythm and start to gain ground fast. My dismounts leading into the barriers were so fast and smooth that I believe I was going over them just as fast as Powers was in the elite race. I end up finishing 21st out of 67. Considering that I started off #67 about 30 seconds down on the nearest rider, I am pretty happy about that. It was definitely the fastest I have ridden all season, I am definitely bummed that things did not work out for me at the start, because I could have won the event. Though life rolls on and hell I had fun. That is the odd thing about this sport, I destroyed a wheel that cost 150$ plus 5 hours of my hard work and time, and race so hard that I could have won or come very close to winning but I finished 21st, and I had fun. I truly do love this sport.

Alright well it's past my bedtime so I am out,
Peace,
Patrick