MFG 2013 #4 at Magnuson Park

  Last weekend was round 4 of the 2013 MFG Cyclocross series. Weather has been a bit light the past few days, so it going to be a pretty dry course, and Magnuson park tends to be a fast course with long straights separating the locations of the park. After great warm-up work this week, I was feeling good (and winning here last year as a Cat 3 didn't hurt either) and excited for the race. A short lap of the course showed that it was definitely running fast, with the majority of the track being dirt.

 When they called us up, the field was definitely large - 44 racers starting in the 1-2 field. Since I still have not had a good finish this year, I ended up in the 3rd/4th row. On the whistle we hit the gas and flew up toward the start/finish and onto the first lap. Hitting the first corner, I squeezed past a few racers, making up ground as possible. We kept up the pace through the entirety of the front section of grass corners and through the barriers. At this point we were back onto pavement and heading out to the tennis courts at full speed. A few quick corners later and we were navigating a series of short hill corners and then jumped onto the gravel. After a short stretch on the gravel, the road pitched upward for the tough hill section of the course. At this point, the leaders had raced off ahead and I was battling with the back of the field, making up places where I could. At the top of the hill, you then plunged back down the other side and into a 180-degree corner before shooting back to the finish-line.

  After a few laps, I was effectively fighting with the few others hanging on at the back of the field. Despite the good lead-in to the event, I just felt out of gas after the first lap. I continued putting down the power as I could, and eventually fell into a good rhythm on the course. As I started the final lap, I was still ahead of the leaders, so I finally finished a race in the same lap this year. Not the result I was hoping for, but still a sign of progress. I ended up finishing in 34th of the 44 starters. Again, not great (no call-up yet...), but a decent finish.

  Since the race, I have had my bike re-fit and definitely feel like I am able to put down the power without feeling out of juice. Now it is time to get settled in and ready for the next MFG race at Marymoor park. Lets see how things go; it sure would be fun to finally get some good races done this season.