Townhall Cross Men's B Race Report...

Last Saturday, Willem and I hopped in the Focus and blazed up the Northeast Extension to Bethlehem, PA for the first annual Townhall Cross Race. On the way up we made our usual stop at Wawa for their pretzels and clean facilities (race day always gives me a nervous stomach.)

We did a pre-ride and the course was pretty compact...there weren't a lot of fast power sections, but lots and lots of fun up and downs and off-camber turns as well as the main event: St. Luke's Staircase, a long slog up a hill with somewhere around a half-dozen switchbacks. It ended with a nasty, slick kicker at the top that a lot of people ended up running.

I ended up starting in the first row for the first time ever and wasted no time in taking the holeshot. However, my time at the front was short-lived, but I did get a brief moment of glory as we ascended St. Luke's Staircase for the first time. Willem and I were right at the front and we both rode the steep, slick top part. Somebody behind us was impressed and yelled out something along the lines of "WAY TO GO, BICYCLE THERAPY! RIDE IT!" which got me psyched.

Willem got into a pretty select group after the top of the hill and I didn't see him again until after the race when I asked him how he did (he won, taking Team BT's first cross scalp of the season.) I faded back a little bit, lost a few spots but then found my rhythm.

One of the fun things about cross is that even though you may be out of the race at the front, you can still find yourself in an epic battle somewhere in the middle, and I spent the final three laps of the race duking it out with two dudes for 6-8th place. I ended up finishing 7th...one dude I just couldn't catch and the other dude I did everything short of tackling him to keep him from passing me. At one point, I slid out on a turn passing a lapped rider and spread my entire body out in front of him to prevent him from getting by. I apologized for racing like a dick afterwards and we laughed about it...reason number 3497239472 why cross rules. If that had happened in a road race there would have been a fist fight in the parking lot. Matt Allyr and Eric Oishi, I only know your names from the results on USACycling.com, but we had an awesome couple of laps and I look forward to crossing swords again. I fricking love bike racing.

After the B race, Team BT had a couple of people in the later races. Meisha took 5th in the 55+ Masters race. While cheering him on, Willem and I had the following exchange:

Willem (cheering on random Masters riders): "C'mon! Keep it up! Keep it up!"

Jack: "Dude, that's fucked up! Don't tell a masters rider to keep it up! They probably hear that shit all the time!"

I kid, I kid.

There was only one women's race, so Nathalie and Linda took on a pretty stacked field in the 1/2/3/4 race...Linda ended up 10th and Nathalie 13th.

All in all, an awesome day of racing...great weather, great dudes and ladies, and AM beers in the parking lot after the race.