USGP Sun Prairie Saturday

Jim Merrifield

It was a bright and sunny morning! Wait! That can't be right! There is a cross race today. I had looked at the weather forecast and I was expecting cool and light rain - much more like cross season. But who was I to argue? Surely by the time my race started at 10:30, the weather would turn crappy. I had gone up to Sun Prairie the day before to help set up the team tent and ride the course. This course was designed for the big boys so I was a tad nervous, my handling skills being what they are - lousy. And sure enough there were a lot of interesting sections but not SO bad. Anyway, I got to the race a bit early, got myself set up, warmed up and when the course was open got out again and then went to the call-up area, just as the single speed guys were getting called up. Hmmmm - where were the old guys? Already called up, of course. So instead of being in the middle of the pack, I was at the back. But I figured if all went as it did last year, that I would be at the back soon enough anyway. And there were only about 30 folks on the line so it did not make much difference. Wrong! The entire first lap, I was contending with all the folks whose handling skills were worse than mine. What?!? Worse? Hmmm - maybe yesterday's practice helped. And stranger still, I was passing people!. Of course the single speedsters who started 30 seconds behind us started passing me pretty soon but I jumped on each and every one and tried to mirror their lines. Pretty soon I was settling in, powering thru the long flat sections and then trying to hit the lines and trying to chase people down. That did not last as long as I hoped - just a couple laps. Then it was on to something I did not do much at all last year - battling with people who were pretty much my speed and trying to either out-handle or out power. It was quickly apparent that my nemesis would be a big guy from the SRAM Factory Team - very strong but had a tendency to overcook corners and slow way down. I would take a better line thru the corner and let it run a little more on the following descent and open up a lead. Then he would blow my doors off on the long power section. I thought I had him when he went way too wide on a corner and a single speedster and I came thru fast. I followed him thru the corners and then traded pulls in the power sections and I was giving it what I had, hoping to discourage the chase. But he was the fitter and the single speedster was running outta gas. He blew my doors off starting the final lap and all the effort I could muster and the diving (for me, anyway) into the corners were not enough to bring him back. But what fun! Better than TTing thru the woods - which is what my races felt like last year. I finished 19th and if I had started where I should have...... yeah, that's the story! Must be the new bike! Sweet!

From there, it was on to marshaling duties and watching the races for the rest of the day. Greg looked good close to the front of the 45+ race despite a cold. And Eric - well Eric always looks good - he was just a bit further back in the same race. And in the AM, David looked good despite a broken butt. And I was thinking, MAN, I gotta race tomorrow but I had prior commitments. Later, I heard about the mud on Sunday.......

And lest you think I did not suffer, the attachment shows me trying to put one foot in front of the other on the "Strangler" run-up.