Course design is key in cross racing. The course in Madison was spot on. It didn’t matter what your strengths or weaknesses were, this layout had it all.
Saturday I was so nervous about racing because I hadn’t raced since the 4th of July. The Guy who started infront of me stacked it up a bit in the 1st 100 yards and it left me buried deep in the field. I rode hard and pretty clean, but I didn’t have great legs and had to pass alot of people just to work back up to my finishing spot of 19th.
Sunday I got a clean start, the legs felt better, and things just went better in general. The Grandstay train (Dan Casper and Matt Williams) came by me on the 2nd or 3rd lap and I was gonna try to stay with them. In true Dan Casper style Dan rode through the group and away by himself. I was with a group of about 8-10 guys the rest of the race. Matt attacked right after the barriers on the final lap and blew our little group up. I was at the back at the time and never really caught back up to the guys who got a little gap. I finished 16th.
Some things to note, Casper is a stud, Jordan is a stud, and the Crossniacs are a cool team. Jared and N8 raced well. It was great seeing so many MN races over in Madtown.