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Old 10-29-12, 09:17 AM
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kennykaos
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Saturday October 27th, 2012: Independence CX, Bridgeton NJ

This was just Beacon CX renamed seeing as the MAC series dropped it from it's schedule. The fields seemed to be smaller and the race schedule was kind of wonky with it now being a New Jersey Cyclocross Series race with the masters races being first and the A. B, and C races being the last races of the day, also with the weird and semi-useless 40+ cat C race seperate from the regular one. The one good thing about it was the course, the same as it ever was with a lot of the ruts left over from last years **** show in the storm there, fun sandy corners, the beach run which now rather than fronting a body of water was now an overgrown lake bed, and the always torturous ampitheater of pain.
The races were also a little behind schedule so the C race didnt start till 1PM which I'm not accustomed to. I like being the frist race so that I'm warmed up and I know when and how much to eat, I have my schedule/race dayt ritual all planned out so racing this much later kind of messed me up. Anyway, they lined people up with call ups from the NJCX points list which only ended up being the first two rows, and then everyone else just had to jump into the start grid and where you ended up was where you started from so as luck would have it I was in the back row. SWEET! Not that I enjoy being in the front row but a little fruther up would have helped seeing as the field was maybe 50 deep. The whistle blows and everyone is sprinting up the asphalt to the first turn, I see some people buzzing eachothers tires and steer away from that almost disaster and start on the first lap. The course has been the same for years so even if I had't pre-rode the course I'd know what to expect, so a lot of the corners are sandy which is kinda sketchy but also fun at the same time. I set into my pace and just keep trucking along since I'm a slow starter, I'm on a guys wheel for a lap and could have passed him right before the beach run but there isn't to much room to pass there so I stay on his wheel till the sand and he gaps me a little on the sand, but I get back up to him and stay with him till the log barriers. At that point I run past him and remount and take off and he cant catch me!
Next person I come upon is Maximum Knee and we battle back and forth for a lap or so until the barriers where im faster over them and on my bike quicker and move on from there. Then I see my next target, some guy I've never seen before who looks to be losing steam, but as soon as he hears/sees me he gives it a little more speed but im working on passing him till we get to the sand again, which he is quicker through than I am. Blah blah blah, i catch him and he chooses a poor line in the sand at the bottom of one of the climbs and almost eats it, so I pass him and drop him on the climb. At this point its getting to be close to the end of the race, and I see one more target, Bob Myaning. I sneak up on him and catch and pass him right before the ampitheater of pain, but he passes me back at the quick, steep uphill before it and gets there first. I can see him in front of me, he isn't that much in front of me but the last time up those "stairs" is brutal! I hop back on and try and catch him, and as I come down onto the asphalt start/finish stretch I get in the drops and drop a few gears in the back and stand up and sprint to catch him with the whole B race screaming at me! Alas I needed to drop it a few more gears down since I started to spin out but didnt want to break my momentum and so Bob crosses the line maybe a bike length or two in front of me. Feel the burn, woo, so I finished up 41/44 finishers, not exactly sure how many started but a great fun race put on by Independence Cycling Team, thanks for keeping Beacon CX going!
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