Fall Colors

That's what they call it. It's big time tourist season in the western part of the state. At its peak, in mid-October, cars are lined up bumper to bumper on the Blue Ridge Parkway to catch a glimpse of the changing leaves. And with the in-laws in town for a visit last weekend, it was a perfect excuse for a trip to the mountains for some spelunking, mountain climbing, and just taking in the scenery.






That there was a cyclocross race out there on Sunday was a happy coincidence. NCCX #4 in Lenoir. The course was fast and not at all technical. Other than a short, easy stair run-up and a pair of barriers, it was all grass and double-track through the trees. No sand. No mud. Not even anything that would count as a hill. One would think that the point of hosting a cx race in the mountains would be to take advantage of the climbs. Apparently not. It was also a rather long course. Right around 3.5 kms. In general the courses seem to be quite a bit longer down in Tar Heel land. They also shortchanged us a lap. Our 45 minute race ended in just over 30 minutes. Which sucks because I'd been passing 2-3 riders per lap since the first one. In the end, enother mid-pack finish for me: 16th out of 25. Good times, though. It's sweet to have so many good racers out. Once the MUCR skinsuit shows up, I'm gunning for the top 10. Or at least more than the 2 series points that everyone who finishes 16th and lower receives. Results here. See also the overall series standings. Most significantly, scroll down and look at all the names on the list. Some of those are doubled up, since some of the masters racers also race in another category. But there's still around 400 racers who've done at least one race in the series. MUCR, we have some work to do. But it's also worth noting that this series is a result of the efforts of a similar group that calls themselves NCCX. See the history here. You will notice some familiar names among the series winners: Ryan Trebon, Jesse Anthony, Adam Craig. I also noticed that some of the guys I'm lining up alongside are past winners of the Pro/1/2 series. That explains why they're so fast.