This past weekend the only points race was Sunday, up in the Mountains, in Buena Vista - Cross at the River. It was a no brainer, this would be a great place to do well. The non-points race was the first Boulder Cyclocross Race (on Saturday). Boulder Racing always does a great job and their races are top notch so I was expecting turnout for their race to be crazy, making the Sunday race... less attended and a potential opportunity for me to catchup and earn some BCR points.
My guess was right, 93 racers toed the line for the Boulder race in my category! 93! Wow. The ACA had so many problems with lapped riders they had to take extra time to get the results out. I'm sure it was a lot of fun but it's hard to get good results in a race like that.
Sunday, two other teammates and I made the drive to Buena Vista. Yes it was a long drive, almost silly for a cyclocross race, but it was great to ride with friends I don't get to see enough. All of us have active families making extra time hard to find. It was a great coarse, right next to the Arkansas river. It had everything, run ups, grass, pavement, barriers, sand, wind and low humidity. Only 24 racers showed up in my category, sad but when your looking for points the odds are in your favor.
The three of us were nervous for the start but all of us got 1st and 2nd row starting positions. The first lap I just tried to be patient (see previous race posts). I actually didn't want to be alone because there were some long drags into the wind. Having someone to race with would be helpful. It felt like people were just dropping off the pace. By half way through the second lap I was spit out the front in third place. The first two were working together and gone. I had a big gap but it felt like no mans land, and it was, I hit it. Maybe I could help my teammates by allowing them to sit on others wheels. Maybe I could hold it?
In the end I was caught by a few people but I still finished in 6th place. To cap things off my teammates were in 9th and 14th! Great results for all of us! We got in a nice cool down and enjoyed a beer while laughing and telling stores about the race.
All in all, I had a great time. Fun suffering with friends and enjoying the conversation during the drive. Next year I hope more people go to this race. It was well done and deserves more attendance.
ACA hasn't updated the BCR/BCT points yet but we should move up a little.
Sorry I didn't get any pictures, but here is a little video someone put together of the race.
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