MABRA State Championships Nov. 25, 2007 Taneytown, MD

This was my second race, and I think I definitely entered the wrong category. When I saw the categories online, I figured since I was under 23, I should register for the Men's Under 23 Cat 3/4 race. Well, That meant that I would be racing in a "B" race. I guess I was in a "C" race last time. Those guys are way better than the Cat 4 athletes that I raced in Sykesville. They started the under 23 at the same time as all of the open men, so I started last again, and had to fight for position the whole race. It was an uphill battle. I finished third in my category, seconds behind number two. Unfortunately, there were only three entries in the under 23 category.

The course was killer, too. All killer, no filler (thanks Sum 41). Off the start, the course had an hour-glass effect. If you didn't start in the top ten, you probably wouldn't finish there. Results are here. Unfortunately, they don't include times, so I don't know how I did in comparison to all the other competitors in my race. I'd guess right around 66th percentile.

These pictures are of a hill. It's steep, muddy, and on a turn. On the first lap, I slid under the yellow tape at the top. I dismantled the fence while pulling my bike out. They probably weren't too happy about that. The next two laps, I had to dismount early to keep that from happening again. The last three laps, though, I had it figured out, and zipped through the hill with no problem. Most people dismounted at the bottom of the hill instead of attempting to ride through it.

Here's a video of that same hill--In perfect execution!

A portion of the course involved two small walls. This is the "forced dismount" section that is typical of cyclocross races. This was probably my weakest part of the race. I haven't developed the technical skills to be able to handle it well. Although somehow Allison took this video of me looking quite smooth. It does look smooth. What it doesn't show, though, is that I had spent the last 1.5 laps trying to pass the guy in the blue. I finally did it right before this section, and as you can see, he passed me back. In the end, I got him on the flat, paved straightaway. I'm much better at that.

Here's the video

And finally, I have some photos taken by these fine people, which I fooled around with, and turned into these. They are full-resolution images, so you can click on them for the real deal if you like.