Monday, September 21, 2009





3rd Place Finish at Charm City!


Perfect weather and a fast course awaited the racers at Charm City CX Sunday at Druid Hill Park in Baltimore. Over 600 contestants came out to race in the first big event of the year. My category, 3/4 35+, had 113 registered. Unfortunately, the race did not get off to a good start for me. As the whistle blew, I had trouble getting clipped in to my pedals and quickly found myself losing ground to my fellow competitors in the crazy sprint start. I was a little concerned with my chances of getting a podium finish (especially when this race decided to only have a 3 person podium opposed to the usual 5 man) when I realized I was at least 30 riders back as we entered the technical part of the course where the race inevitably becomes single file. I just told myself to ride hard and smart because there was plenty of time left. I picked my moments to dig deep and I was fairly smooth through the obstacles (Charm City CX had a sand pit, a section of stairs, and 2 man-made barriers...all required dismounting and carrying your bike). As the laps went by, 5 in all, I found myself near the front of the race fighting it out with Jonathan Siebold, Keith Rohr, and Pete Jensen. I think we all had our moments were we made the slight mistake rounding a corner to wide or coming into one to fast and we would trade positions. I actually hit the deck twice on the day which cost me valuable time. We all spent time trying to catch Stephen Robinson, the eventual winner from the Squadra Coppi Team. Jonathan put in a hard effort to get a gap on me and I could not get back on his wheel but was able to hold off the others to secure a 3rd Place finish.


A very good start to what will be a fun season!




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