It’s hard for me to say which race is my favorite now; used to be Boom Island, but now I think this race put on by The Hub is at least tied. The weather was cool with a brisk breeze from the north that notched up a bit colder and stronger at the start of the B race. My pre-ride revealed a tricky and punishing course: a 180 triple barrier set-up in fresh mud, some high speed descents, some technical twisty stuff, one short stair run up, some short or gentle climbs, a rhythm section that gave the option of a double barrier, and a long (50m +) run-up back to the finish stretch. I was able to ride the last hill twice on warm-ups, but didn’t know how long that would last.

Pull up to the start after a gentle 25 minute spin on the trainer. People were claiming start-line positions before the last C racer was even through. After a couple of delays, we finally got going. I was able to stay top 20 going into the mud-pit barriers and slowly moved up to top 10 by the backside of the course. Coming up the long run-up, the crowds at the top were so loud and encouraging that the pain just floated away. Through the finish, and I’m sitting 4th. Sweet. I kept looking for more riders in front of me before I realized that I really was only 20 m off the lead rider.

Over the next two laps, I moved up to second, fell back to third when Guy passed me after a strong recovery, then settled into fourth half way through lap three. I was trying to hang onto to a wheel for the headwind sections and kept fighting back to close the small gaps down until two and half to go, when my legs started cramping up a bit. I eased off just enough to let them recover, then kept the pace steady again. Two to go, I was caught by two guys and didn’t have enough to come around them again, but hung on for a while. One to go and a small gap had opened, but the leaders were still no more than 100 meters up the course. I knew I had someone else breathing down my neck so I hit the final run-up as hard as I could to hold steady with him, then got back on the bike so much faster (i almost laughed as I saw him almost stop to climb back on–cross is all about the skill and the strength) to get away and almost fast enough to catch the rider in front of me until I hit the headwind into the finish. Rolled in solo after nearly 50 minutes of racing.

Had to leave after my race to catch the niece’s b-day party, so I haven’t seen official results, but I think I ended up 6th overall, and somewhere between 3rd and 5th in B1 (depending on how they score the single-speed phenom Ezra who lead most of the race after lap 2). Even though yesterday’s result is better on paper, today’s is worth so much more given the much larger and significantly stronger field (I’m guessing 70-80). That and it was on a more true cyclocross course.

If you’re in the Minneapolis area next year for the Mill City Classic, come check it out; you won’t be disappointed.