Another cold, snowy, muddy, icy cross race...... It seems to be the norm starting in mid-November and continuing until whenever you decide to stop racing cross. It's hard on equipment, clothes, riders and pit crews. KCCX had, what I believe was the best pit crew bar none all season and especially in the late season. Bill, Tom, Dean and everyone else that helped out were absolutely phenomenal! This continued right up through the most recent CX race.
Following CX Nationals in Bend, my bikes were a wreck. Eight races in the above conditions and so many falls that I just stopped counting took their toll. Tom had the bikes up and running to "like new" status on race day. Actually, I didn't even see my bikes that day until the race. How awesome is that?! So, my plan was to use one bike and not trash the other one......
Well, the mud turned to ice, and the ice stayed on the bikes. What that meant is that my A bike was totally iced over and I was slogging along like I was dragging an anchor. Time to change. During the change, two guys who had been closing for some time as I continued to bog down with ice, passed me and made a run for it. I must say, having the pit crew of KCCX and that extra bike made a HUGE difference. It was like being on a brand new bike! All of a sudden I was going 3-4 mph faster. So much fun! I rode by them and was nearly back up to 3rd place when I just ran out of laps. Cross is hard.
After the race, Tom took my bikes AGAIN and will undoubtedly have them back to "like new" condition on race day coming up. The funny thing is... Tom wasn't really planning on working pits that day, just watching and enjoying his off season. Funny how that works out. Tom, thanks so much for all your help this year with KCCX. The team could not have accomplished what we did without you.
