OVCX #6 Trick-or-Treat 'cross

This weekend was the 6th stop of the OVCX series at Eva Bandman Cyclocross park in Louisville. This venue hosted the Master's World Championship last year and will host the Elite World Champs this year.
It was the annual "Halloween cross" where a lot of people race in costume. I'm calling it the "trick or treat cross" because I got tricked. I felt good, rode good and placed poorly. That's like getting a Snickers bar the proverbial razor blade in it.    

It was windy and a very chilly day. The temp was ~52*, but the sun never poked out and that made it feel cold. Add 20+ mph steady winds to that, and you have a bone chiller of a day.

(great perspective shot of the harder of the two run-ups)

I really wanted to get a good start at this race. The course was no technical in the least, which tends to not suit me as well. So I figured if I could get a good start I could afford to give up a few positions throughout the race and still be okay.  

I got a good start. I rode top 10 for most of the first lap, but started giving up spots. I was picking bad lines on the run-ups and giving up places nearly every time (2 runs per lap). I have no idea why, but I was taking a right side line up the run ups, but they went directly to a left hand turn at the top. So I'd give up 2 or more spots to guys who took the left side of the run up. It was stupid and it took me a couple laps to get a hold of this. Add to this that the course was wide opened, and had a lot of flat pedal-hard stuff and it wasn't a good race for me. Like I mentioned above, I rode well and felt pretty good. But I ended up 25, which is among the worst of my results.     

But I did have a fun day despite. And I squeaked onto the 35+ podium too. They had champagne for all podiums, so for the first time in my life I got covered in victory wine. Andy Messer (2nd step of the podium) commented that we'd all be screwed if we got pulled over going home; having just showered in alcohol. Pretty good stuff.

This weekend is the UCI Cini 3 race(s). It is a Friday, Saturday, Sunday event. I have done the triple once before, but I'm doing only Sat and Sun this year. Taking off work, plus racing three days in a row, is tough. Add hotel bills, etc to all that and it's not worth it to me. Should be a fun weekend though.