Series 60 Wknd

Saturday & Sunday were stops 2 & 3 of the Series 60 CX Series. Saturday was the Capitol Cup in Topeka. Sunday was the ever popular Boulevard Cup @ Wynadotte Park, former home of CX nationals.

Saturday I got up bright & early for the 4 hour drive up to Topeka. The temps are finally getting closer to normal Cross weather with a slight chill in the air. The course was very similar to last years except with the addition of another run up of the "Mound of Misery". They also made the smart move of cutting out about 2 miles of the course. Last year you got what seemed like 4 miles away from the pits. This year with shorter laps you never felt like you were going on a tour of Topeka. Warming up the grass still had a heavy dew on it & braking was a serious issue. I had intended to run the file treads but started second guessing it. I threw them on & took a lap & decided with the right tire pressure they would be fine. Turns out they worked better than the motor did.

It only took 1/2 a lap after the whistle went off for me to realize my legs weren't there. I guess I had dug myself a bigger hole last week than I had thought & the fatigue was heavy. Winkler & Hejduk basically rode/ran away from me. No real attacks just steady hard tempo & it was all I could do to float around in 3rd for the remainder of the race. Third was a bit of a disappointment since I had won here last year. All the fatigue in the legs made it an easy decision to scratch myself from the 1/2 race & go into hang out/fan mode. Just walking around after the race my legs were dead. I was tired enough I probably should have caught a nap in the sun. Very strange.

Sunday was the Boulevard Cup. This is one of my favorite races if for nothing else that the race prizes are beer. This year the winner of each class got a bottle of 6th Glass. I had thought that the course was going to be last years Nationals course which I wasn't very excited about. That course wasn't a very good one for me even though on paper it should have been. Anyway when I pulled into the parking lot I was pleasantly surprised to see it moved up on onto the hill. They even took the course around the Skate Park. There were a few kids riding the bowls while we were racing. I mounted the file treads again & took a practice lap. I took them to 28 psi & I knew that was the set up for the day. My legs felt a little better warming up than they had on Saturday. Though the course was heavy on grass & wind so I was a little worried about having another bad day. Luckily Winkler was feeling sick so decided not to start Master's. But David White had decided to race Master's instead of the 1/2's. This had me pretty worried since he rode off the front of the 3's races last year & won by a chunk of time. I figure I'd better mark him pretty closely.

At the start Doug Plumer lined up so I knew the long road start was going to be ridiculously fast. Some one must have told him there was a prime for the first to the end of the pavement. He freaking drilled it from the word go. I figured he'd fad but the fast pace always makes the selection happen fast. As usual me versus 5 360 guys. Plumer dropped of the pace fast & Lucas came to the front. I decided to attack early & often in an attempt to be more aggressive & break up the 360 death grip on me. It turns out that I hadn't pre rode the "whole" course. There was a switch back section marked with orange cones laying in orange leaves that I had missed. I attacked right before it & blew straight through it. I instanlty hear all 5 of the 360 guys yelling "SCOTT!" I'm thinking to myself what the hell is there game here. Then I glance back & the gap has gotten way to big, way to fast, & the light bulb turns on. Shit I've gone off the course. So I swing it around in a big loop, get back on course, & start my half lap chase to get back on.



I came damn close to throwing in the towel. Things sorted themselves out & I caught back on. Some big attacks went which I tried to cover. Jenks took a flier which threw me for a loop since I didn't know to cover it or try & pull it back gradually. I decided gradual & he came back after about a 1/2 lap of me sweating bullets thinking I'd let the race go up the course. With 4 to go Hejduk & I got away & I went to the front to set a hard tempo. He looked a little rough around the edges so I made a few efforts to get away. When we hit the road with 3 to go I sprinted like it was the finish & opened up a gap. I put my head down & started cracking the whip. I pretty much flogged myself for the next lap & a half till I saw the gap was comfortable enough to let off a little. That was that, go into don't screw up mode, & roll across the line for the first W of the season.

The win was a big moral booster. After feeling like crap & having to decide not to double up I was having some self doubts about how I had been training, racing, etc. I feel a little better about it now. Hopefully training will go better this week & I'll feel like doubling up @ Smithville this coming weekend, since December is still a long way away.