Show me the power and mud! OVCX opener report.

Well, the Drt racing crew showed up in a big way this past weekend for the "official" kickoff of cross racing season in the subs of Cinci for the King's Cx OVCX opener. We had a nice team showing during the 2 days of racing that showed both sun, rain, mud, heat, humidity and lots of racers.  I was super stoked to see the large numbers of 3/4 women racing this year as they had over 20 gals line up to duke it out each day. I was also a little bummed that more of us elite women didn't show, as we didn't even break the double digits. I'm sure that will change really soon though with the way 3/4's are getting into the sport. 

We headed down from Northern Indiana on late Friday with the RV and woke up to a chilly Saturday morning, but beautiful conditions and plenty of time to scope out the coarse. Josh Johnson and I were there first from the team to arrive and would later be joined by Zach, Andy and Don. After getting a good look at the layout, we got prepped for the days events. 

Josh had the first race in the Cat3 men and had a great showing with 2nd place (which he would repeat on day 2). This was a sweet job considering he was a cat4 last year and only had

 about 4 cross races under his belt.

 (Pic: Josh in the lead group hitting the center of the barrier)

Don and I would take the line next. I really was excited about the layout since I felt it was a good mix of some tech and long power sections. It had a little too much running for me, but I knew I would make it through it. Running is something I am unable to do with the bum ankle so I am a little anxious with more running in the laps. It turns out that the running really wasn't a problem. I took off from the line into the humungo first straight and felt like the legs were firing great! I dipped in 2nd wheel behind Olivia Jaras and drafted a minute to catch my breath before taking the lead. I had  the lead for a while until I found myself eating the ground on the barriers. I got a little fancy and tried to step off at the last minute and my front wheel hit the barrier sending me pile driving into the ground face first at full body speed. Ouch! I'm still feeling it. After getting back up in dead last, I had a bent lever and couldn't shift. So I was forced to do some climbing in a massive gear until I got to the pit for a bike exchange. After the exchange, I had made my way up to 4th and after getting my A bike back I finally passed a tough Pam Loebig and moved into 3rd.  I then set my sights on 2nd place that was held down by last year's series winner, Amanda Mckay. It took some effort to get up to her, but I drilled it on the hills and finally did it. I played it safe and drafted a little off her on the bell lap until the very last straight. I threw down what power I had left and had a fair gap allowing me to not have to work too hard in the last meters. I finished 2nd, but I had to work the whole race to get it. I was pretty happy with being able to fight my way back after a wreck and 2 pits. On a side note, Don decided to eat the barrier also and played a similar race as myself and was able to fight back for 3rd!

Andy and Zach took the line next in the pro men field and they both had a good first day showing, placing 6th and 9th respectively. The pro men for ovcx are looking super tough this year and there should be some epic battles for the overall series points chase. 

(Pic: Andy Messer rounding the pit area in the 1/2/3 race . It was a fast, dry day.)

After another night in the RV at the venue, and a showing of Office Space, day 2 of racing was upon us quickly. Being a team of MTBers, we were hoping the rain predictions would stick and that happened just in time for the races to start. A steady rain began and I was excited to get to try my new Rhinos. Josh's race was probably the slickest of the day with the rain being constant, but by the time I started it was dying down and forming walls of humidity. It was sticky and I was regretting putting on the embro earlier when it seemed "cold." I  didn't feel that great in my warm up, but hoped the legs would wake up once the racing started. It was fast pace from the gun, and with some stiffer competition and ovcx points on the line, I wanted to do the best I could. It was pretty bunched up at first and slowly the obstacles and mud started spreading us out. AnnaJean (Nikki) got into the lead early and I stayed with her for a little while, but she slowly gained on me in the power areas and I settled into 2nd.  I had a couple more hard surges to try and get back to her, but I was unable to bridge it and was feeling the hurt from my hard chasing the day before. It really just comes down to power to weight ratio at this point with her and I. So 2nd place it was, and I was okay with this considering there was some good gals out there to race with. I was also very happy to have no wrecks or mechanical in this race of muddiness! It was super fun to race cx in the mud again and it reminded me of why I love it so much. Plus, the Rhinos were amazing!

Drt continued to have good team results on the weekend with Don G placing 2nd in M 1/2/3, Andy finishing 4th, and Zach E. coming in at a strong 13th. Not a bad showing for the team before we head to the Wisconsin Usgp this weekend. Thanks Kings Cx for a great venue and all the work to put on a good time!

USGP is already shaping up to be a huge field for the pro women and looks like all the paid gals will line up. I look forward to see how this full-time anesthesia cross racer can fair against the full-time pros!