Left the house and 15 minutes down the road my car overheated. I think the thermostat is shot. I milked it home, threw my stuff in the wife's car and headed back in the direction I started. Arrived with 25 minutes to register, dress and warm up. Plenty of time, really. 10 riders in the Pro 1/2 race. Second place going into the grass, ended up leading after the first set of barriers, rode in the lead for most of the first lap, even had a gap coming across the line. Felt good but not that good so when they started reeling me in I let it happen. A group of 6 formed, Tanner took a spill, then Dustin Greer (local hotshot) came around. I slowly worked my way back to about 6th, but with 4 laps to go Tanner dropped Brent and I knew he was coming back to me with spent legs. I pulled around Brent and was content with a podium spot but with a little less than 2 remaining I realized Dustin was running with a flat. He made the change but didn't catch me so I ended up 4th in my first race of the season.
Satisfying result for me. All the guys I raced against looked to be in top shape and I know most of them have been racing the road all season. Brent was the CX3 State Crit Champ. These guys weren't slouches so to for a slouch like me to hit the podium, within striking distance of 3rd on my first day back is a really good feeling.
Lined up 10 minutes later for the SS race. There were 4 of us. I rode 2 laps and bailed. I just didn't have any energy. I think I needed some food between races and I didn't have a thing. I was also thinking about the two shows I had to play later that night and my desire to come back on Sunday and do it all again. That was my first withdraw from a cross race and I'm not proud of it, but I had to do it.
The shows went really well too, Station Inn was full of people. Loaded out and headed home by 1, hung out and bullshitted with our band manager who's staying with me and finally crawled in bed around 3am. I'm going to be ready to sleep again when today's over.
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