08 States recap

OVCX did a really nice job setting up this course on a very dry and great conditioned Lane Rd. Park in Upper Arlington. The course offered some technical switchy up's with some really fast down's, steep short climbs, a run up and flat straight power sections both on grass and tarmac. The whole course had a nice flow to it and did I mention it was in great condition? There was a marching band drum section at the top of the finishing hill and also the stereo system near the double barriers was a nice added touch, very well done!!

We arrived at the park early on race day for Robert to get ready for the C race followed by the Junior age groups. Robert lined up for the open C race and was in the mix of things the whole race, he raced strong and looked very comfortable in the big field. After his warm-up in the C's he lined up in the Junior race and commenced to put the smack down on the field and won overall, convincingly, well done Junior State Champ!

Next race up was the Mens Cat.3. Tony lined up 2nd. row and when the gun went off he was battling for a front position. About 1/2 way through the first lap he was sitting in 2nd. with 3 slightly off the front. After the 2nd. lap the 3 had distanced themselves from the pack and were now working hard together. On one of the switchback up's Mayhew dropped a chain and now it was Tony and another rider, who I don't know his name. Over the double barriers, Tony attacked and established a gap, he kept the pressure on and was pulling away for about a lap, Chris Mayhew had caught back on to the 2nd. place rider and the 2 of them were now working hard to bring Tony back. We were yelling to Tony to keep the pressure on as the 2 were working very nicely together. Tony would jump out of the saddle at every corner and flat to keep the speed high and ensure that the 2 would not catch him. On the last lap the 2 chasers were within about 20 seconds. I yelled to Tony that they were very close and he must have had an adrenaline rush or something and buried himself to just pull away with no chance of the chasers catching him. He pumped his fist as he came up the finishing hill having just became the Cat.3 Ohio Sate CX Champ!

Next up was the Elite Master 1,2,3 Men, 35-45+ Rudy, Jeff, Derek and myself all had decent starts in the large field. Over the top of the 1st. steep hill and down the backside we were going so fast it felt like the Demon Drop at Cedar Point! The whole 1st. lap stayed very fast like that and we started to split apart on the 2nd. lap. As the strongest had a gap already we were all fighting to stay near the top in the placings. Jeff and Rudy were a few riders up and I was hooked up with 3 or 4 and we were going good. I was smooth over the barriers and would attack each time and get a gap to the switchback stuff and ride it smoothly also. I gapped the group that I was with and was riding alone when I would look back and see Derek coming up to me also. He was riding strong and dropped the riders that I was with earlier. There were 2 up the road a little way and my thought was to let Derek get up to me and we could work together and bring them back. We did just that, we never caught the other group but we rode together holding off a group of 5 that was catching us in the open stuff but would loose ground in the techy parts. It came down to a drag race between Derek and I and we big ringed it from the 180 by the tents to the top of the hill with Derek getting me by a 1/2 of a wheel. Good stuff!
I ended up 5th. Master 45+ and 15th. overall out of 35. Jeff was 7th. OA 2nd. M. Rudy 10th. OA 3rd. M. Derek 14th. OA 4th. M.

Julie was coming into the race as the Womens overall 1,2,3 points leader. She lined up sporting the OVCX leaders jersey in a fast womens field and was soon in a heated battle. The race stayed a race the whole time with Julie finishing 5th. overall and 3rd. in her age group. She also was the overall OVCX series winner for 2008 and raced EXTREMELY WELL the whole season. Nice Job Julie.

Overall the team did a great job. Nate finished well in the C's, Scott in the 3's and we had left before the Elite race went off to know how Matt did. I'm sure he was strong.

Great races, great competition, no bike cleanup afterwards and everyone lives happily ever after...............Til Copley :-)

See ya in a few weeks and have a Great Thanksgiving.