Spring Mount

Spring Mount CX hosted by Philly Ciclismo
Women's Elite Open

Course Highlights: 2 small creek crossings and a volleyball court of sand

Race Stats: 12 starters (1 HZ/PBRers, me)

Weather: Mid 60s and sunny.

The Low Down:
I had literally looked up everyone that had pre-reged to get some sense of how the small field was going to stack up. Luckily I didn't put money on my predictions because a few surprises were in store. My goal was top 1/3 as usual.
I went out hard and found myself immediately in 6th with 2 girls right in front of me. I made it my goal to get in to 4th and have my eyes on 3rd by the end of the 2nd lap. Well, I was in 4th for about 100 yards before I realized that Tammy was much faster than me and deserved to be riding that spot. I tried to hang with Tammy who encouraged me to work with her to catch Lisa. However, that didn't work out. Instead, I found myself drifting back in 5th spot. I thought I'd be okay there as long as I kept pushing. But instead, the QCW team was not going to let me relax. Abby from their team was catching me with every lap and I was trying my darndest to hold her off. She had a solid cheering section. Luckily, I kept my transitions smooth since there were at least 3 remounts per lap and held her off for 5th. The last payout place. Now I can say that I won money in an elite women's open cyclocross race. I bought some Dairy Queen to celebrate.

Summary: The course was tough. It was not the dry fast course that I expected since it was warm and sunny out. The mud was tough to slog through and stuck to my tires making the bike heavy. I would love to go up against that same group again on a Saturday and try my hand against Lisa and Tammy again. They were fast.