USGP Portland

Clayton and I made the trip out to Portland! I would go into the intricacies of building cardboard double bike boxes, the art of moving exams, or the wonders of free inflight internet, but I'm gonna keep this pretty short after my novel on jingle cx.

USGP Day 1-

Somehow, I had enough UCI points for number 8 and my first ever USGP front row start. Way cool, but also nerve wracking. I was easily the most cat 5 person on the front row.

Thank God it was cold enough to wear leg warmers, or else the world would had seen the inevitable chain ring marks I probably had on my legs. Lined up next to all those badass women, I tried to stay calm. What if I clipped in and fell over? What if I cause a pile up before the corner? But really, does that ever happen? To anyone?

The course itself was fun- twisty, muddy, slick. The motocross whoops were back and a few running sections had ankle deep mud. Finally it was time to line up. The start. That brief moment where everyones together- before there's gaps to close or crashes to avoid or mud to not dab in. Where there race is still open and ahead of you, changes to push or moments tocrack. Obviously, I had my game face on:

The start was kind of crazy, but what would a cyclocross start be without a solid dose of cra-cra? I think there was a crash or two. There was definitely a stray trash can that blew across the course. I was lucky to avoid some mishap and rode the first two laps in 6th-7thish. Somepoint in the middle of race I flatted, tried to get another bike, but then it just wasn't happening anymore. I kind of lost it and went backwards from there.

Day two-

Just outside of the first corner there was a big pile up. I'm not sure what happened, but in a instant we were all facedown in three inches thick, cold sloppy mud. My bike was at the bottom of a wall of riders trying to get through. Nuts. I grabbed my bars and dragged my bike out. Finally, some race adrenaline! The leaders were gone, I was around 20th, but the chase made me want to go. After a few laps, I was around 8-10th. Riding past the start, I could see clayton. ASHLEY, GO PIT. What? I was expect a "good job" or maybe a "keep going" but not a "go switch bikes." I checked my rear tire. Not flat. My bike was a bit muddy, but nothing was sticking too bad. The cranks still spun. Why go pit? I looked down. D'oh. My bars were twisted to the right, probably since that first lap pile up.

It was one of thosethings- if I hadn't noticed it, I probably wouldn't had noticed it. But now I noticed it, and after pitting on day 1, I really didn't want to again. (One day I'll have this cross thing figured out. But for now, I fear the pits)

I finished 10th on the day and was looking forward to a week of exploring Portland.

This would be where I'd put up really awesome pictures of the Oregon coast- of the shore caves we explored and the waterfalls we climbed beneath and the silhouettes of rocks against the ocean. I'd post pictures of a seaside cafe where we ate pancakes and coffee and an overlooking view of the city from up Mt. Tabour. I'd even post an awesome picture of cats that read, "please stop smoking, we love you".... but I managed to delete my camera without uploading them all first. Urgh!

urgh.