Jingle CX: Days 2 and 3

Coming into Jingle Cross, I seriously didn’t know what my form would be like and didn’t have any good idea of how I would do. So I was excited about my Friday result, I would have been happy with a top 10, or with a top 5, but getting on the podium was a great feeling. That was all fine, but now I had a good understanding of what I could do and expected something the next day. I made sure to do everything I could to help in my recovery. I took a hot shower, stretched in the shower, massaged my legs, and finally put on compression gear before going to bed early. I got a really good night’s sleep.

Rain was in the forecast for Saturday so I was expecting some muddy condition. Muddy is an understatement. A lot of people were comparing it to USGP Madison which I didn’t race. But USGP didn’t have an insane decent off Mt. Crumpet. But it was extremely similar. It rained all day and the course was very similar. The big difference was we rode up the way we came down Mt. Crumpet the day before and then descended a steep switchback down the back side. This decent was difficult to walk down, let alone run or ride.

I had a similar start to Friday night. The competition was slightly better, as there more people challenging for the top 5 than the day before. I slotted in a few places back than the day before around 7^th or 8^th. I started picking off riders during the first lap. By the end of the lap I could see that not only was Jeff not very far off the front, but Jordan was in sight as well. My legs felt ok, but I was catching the leader so I pushed hard to make contact. I immediately got the feeling that both Jeff and Jordan were taking it easy because once I applied pressure and made up ground, they accelerated and started pulling away.

During lap 2 I almost caught Jeff. He noticed this and put on the gas. Jordan was also seeing the we were making up ground on him and hit it like, well only he can. He was gone once again. But Jeff was still in sight. Plus there were 3 guys about 10 second behind me. I was in a very good position and kept pushing hard. I caught Jeff and immediately left him behind at the start of lap 3 and attention quickly turned to catching Jordan. My big weak point was the climb though. Each time up the hill I tried to ride as much as possible, because once off the bike I was walking. I just couldn’t run to save my life. Jeff was making up a lot of ground there. On the 3^rd lap after I thought he was toast, Jeff and the 3 guys behind him passed me on the way up. I was able to make contact with the group on the way down, but Jeff was gone. I battled with the group on the 4^th lap and was only able to beat one guy.  5^th place, I was hoping for more, but I was fried from all the running. Same story that night, after a quick meal and one beer at the Jingle Party, I hit the hay early, even got some HW done.

Sunday was back to a course similar to Friday. Run up Crumpet, and more long straight sections. One huge deal was that my team director Dave let me borrow his Challenge Limus tubulars. They are challenge’s new all mud tire. To be honest, I felt really good that day, and the race started very similar to the other day. Good start and top 5 in the first few corners. But this time, by the end of lap 1, I was way out front with only Jordan in the lead ahead. I honestly remember thinking to myself, whoa, where am I. Oh, I’m in 2^nd, holy shit. I was going hard and felt good, but those Limus tires were amazing. I almost didn’t notice the mud. I could rail the corners and I felt super confident in the pinwheel. It was kind of cool on the final lap Tim Johnson was watching me race, and I wasn’t going to hard knowing that the gaps were settled so I said “HI TIM JOHNSON!” as I rode past. He cheered back. It was kinda cool.

But I rolled in for an amazing 2^nd place! That really was a good way to end the weekend. I ended up winning all my entry back plus a little extra to pay for food. Amazing weekend, and really need to get me some Challenge Limus tires of my own! I be back next year for sure!

Thanks for reading!