Oct 5: Grove City CycloCross

Race #3 of 4 of the Month of Mud Series took place today in Grove City, Pa. Sam Morrison, Mike Maher, Henry Dimmick, and Ray Sielski all raced for the good guys :) In the second race, the SPORT class, the plan was for me, Henry, to lead the pace out on the road section in order to get to the first section of single track and barriers at the front. Mike and Ray were to follow my wheel, and be able to "ride over top of me" when I started to blow.

Into the first barriers I was in 4th place with the lead group. However, by Lap #3, the fast lead-out pace was taking it's toll on me (and hopefully on others). As I began getting passed by other riders, Mike rode by me with good legs, and continued to pick fading riders off one by one. By the end of the race, Mike was able to secure 2nd Place in Sport ... which is an awesome result for his first "formal" CycloCross race, and an excellent sign of his fitness leading into next weekend's infamous, 65 mile "Iron Cross". In the Premier Race, Sam was facing three riders from the same team...all within one point of each other in the Series, and all looking to take over the lead in the EXPERT Class. Sam went out hard, working to stay in front of his points partners. By the end of the first lap, they were all still close enough to see one and other. By lap 2, he had built a 15 second gap on them. By Lap 3, the gap had grown to 45 seconds. By Lap 4, the gap had grown to 90 seconds and by the finish Sam had over 3 minutes on his "points chasers" ...ultimately taking 4th in the race, while taking over 1st Overall in the Expert Class Points Series. When the final results are posted at http://westlibertycycles.com/mom/overall_points.htm , we will see how much of a point gap Sam has heading into the final race of the series, next weekend's Moraine State Park MTB. UPDATE: Sam moved into 1st Place by 11 points :) Also, watch http://www.samlikesbikes.blogspot.com/ for Sam's posting.