I haven't updated in a bit, but things are going much better. The tailbone is 95% healed - it only really bothers me when I'm driving or sitting a certain way. I only had to miss one race.

Last Sunday I raced Carpentersville cross - a long and technical course with a lump track [or rhythm section], sandpit, creek bed, barriers, and lots and lots of twists and turns. I got there early and practiced riding the course and I though I had it down pretty good. We started on pavement, so I got a better start than usual and was fifth wheel at the first barrier. Unfortunately, I was penned in and trapped behind a woman in her first cross race ever who had no idea how to dismount and get over the barrier. By the time I got around her and back on my bike, I'd lost a bunch of places. Then I slid out and went through the caution tape that delineated the course and lost a few more places. And, without realizing it, I'd picked up a streamer of the plastic tape in my derailleur.


You can see the tape in this photo. You might also notice that my chain is off. I couldn't pedal it back on and had to stop and manually fix it while MORE racers got by me. Then the tape started causing all sorts of shifting problems. I couldn't get it to stay in gear and couldn't get any speed up. I couldn't close the gap to the riders who'd passed me. I finally got it to stay in one gear, and rode the final lap single speed. It was pretty frustrating - I finished 13th, which was way higher than I expected with the problems I had. But lower than I had aimed for.


Happily, I had no mechanical problems this past Sunday at Bartlett. With new cables and a new bottom bracket, my bike was running better than ever.

The race course in Bartlett was a power course with long straight sections you could pick up some speed on. I got a TERRIBLE start - I've GOT to work on that - and was one of the last through the first corner. That's hard to come back from, the leaders get SO far ahead. But the course suited me, so I started picking riders off. There were a couple of sections that I could shoot past a girl and get a bit of distance before the next technical part. I managed to work my way back up into the top ten and pass some racers that had been beating me all year. I was even getting close to women who consistently finish in the top five. But I ran out of time - a longer race would suit me better.

In the end, I had Jamie from Cuttin' Crew and my teammate Natalie hot on my tail. I'd gotten past them, but I couldn't break their spirit. Natalie went off course and lost time, but Jamie was chasing hard. All her teammates were at the top of 'heckle hill' the little run-up, and they were cheering her on. I could sense her at my elbow. I stayed ahead of her through two more turns, and then she got by me. I rode her wheel through the last bit of the course, but could not come around her in the sprint. She took seventh and I took eighth, with Natalie coming in a moment later ninth. It was VERY exciting - I so rarely have racers around me at the end of a cross race, it was super fun up to race hard all the way. Props to Jamie!

Next Sunday is St. Charles. Last year this was a very technical course with some serious uphill sections. I'm looking forward to it!

Thanks to Duane, Brian Morrissey, and Luke Seeman for photos. You rock.