Carlos - Carpenters Park was re-done this year. It was very slow and very technical....welll not really but it had a turn about every 20 feet.

The racing has been different this year in the series. A butt ton of riders. So many from road it's pathetic. Jeff is right - we had to line up 30 minutes before our race and we still were about 3 rows back.

Everyone seems to have read all of the same advice so they all hammer like mad at the start. That coupled with the fact that everyone is cold and they started us on a long paved straight before the firs turn into a soft mud/grass transition....

.....and there was a big pileup before the first turn. I was in front of it but someone hit a sign and then nailed one of our guys. It took him out and then most of the rest of the field....including Jeff.

have spent a lot of time talking to everyone about why this year kind of sucks and we are all kind of feeling the following:

Sure cross is supposed to be fun and it's great to have a cheering section out there but it's crossed into a carnival for the purpose of being a carnival.....oh hey....there's a race going on i think...

It's filled with all sorts of guys now that don't seem to jive with the cross mojo. As a result a lot of us have decided to do the 30+ instead. Not because we want to do well but because the vibe is much better.

All in all I had my best race of this year yet but I was still 42. Riding only 1 day a week and spending every waking moment building wheels isn't helping that cause. Time to just fnid a way to enjoy the racing and embrace it.