Nov 29: Pa. State CX Championship

After leaving at 5am last weekend, Sam Morrison and Henry Dimmick (me!) woke at 3:30 for a 4am departure and a 650 mile, 18 hour trip to Allentown, Pa. Most of the way across Rt80, we encountered a Boy Scout Troop selling coffee, animal crackers, fruit and lots of other stuff under multiple tents at a rest stop... allowing us to re-stock our snacks in return for a donation. Once at the race site, we set up camp... and got ready for a long day. The first race of the day for (us) was the Men's U19. After winning the Ohio State U19 race, Sam took 1st Place again... but this time, as a resident of Pa., he was actually able to (keep) the title!

Next up was the Cat 2/3/4 race... the most highly populated race of the day. I got shelled, finishing 21st ... but knew I had lots more miles left to go in the day as I was planning on doing the very next race, the Masters 1/2/3 race. Things went a bit better in this race, where I finished 6th in the 1/2/3, 45+ division.

The last race of the day was the Mens 1/2/3. About 30 minutes before the race, Sam started working me to race along with him... so I could accumulate 3 total races on the day, a record! Being weak to peer pressure, I cracked open my wallet and shelled out a few more dollars to endure even more fun and pain! While I whittled away time near the back, Sam was near the front, spending the hour racing for 5th. But in his own 2nd race of the day, ultimately faded during his back-and-forth battle to take 6th in the Cat 1/2/3. By the end of the race, the sun was getting low in the sky, and we still had a 5+ hour drive home. All in all, a great course, and well worth the long drive to get there. And tomorrow?

The Murrysville CX. With a weather forecast of 35 degF and rain. YUK!