Long Island - Whitmore's Cup!

Think about a standing-start 2 lap chariot race on the track. Now imagine what it would be like if your finish in this hypothetical track race determined the starting order for a 40 min cross race—except you don’t get a break between the races.

That was the setup for the course at the Whitmore Super Cross race in Southampton, NY. I planned to sprint at the start just hard enough to take the first corner in 5^th place. I wanted to make sure I didn’t blow up battling for first or second, but didn’t want to get stuck behind too many in the technical stuff (And man, was this course technical!). My start was good, as was Erik’s and Jacob’s. I believe we were all top 10 going into the first corner.

The morning dew was still on the grass. This spelled out large, pile-up wreck in my mind, so I took a good bit of the first 2 laps on foot. While there weren’t any large wrecks in front of me, I stayed on the heels of Jacob, who had now passed me. We passed a rider or 2 together. As we went into the third lap a gap had opened in front of us, and I decided that I needed to start riding some of the technical sections that were now drying up from the sun and the other rider’s tires. I passed Jacob then another rider, but this one held onto my wheel for a few laps.

With 2 or 3 laps to go, I decided to try reeling in what turned out to be 4^th place. And I was going to have to do it alone.

It really is lonely out there when you realize you’re pulling away from a strong rider not knowing how far ahead the next (even stronger) rider is. I knew I was doing well, but there is a feeling of desperation when you have no ruler for measuring your balance of effort and risk. I was trying to error on the side of conservative riding— as it has become a personal goal to keep my bike upright (as much as possible).

I never caught up to the next rider, but I finished the race in 5^th (my best ‘cross finish to date). The team was really supportive, and it really feels good to get those post-race congratulations. I grabbed a recovery drink, rode for 30 minutes, and then opened the tastiest Budweiser of my life.