Fain Pain=Rain

Every true cyclocross racer dreams of racing in the nastiest of conditions. I guess we here in the states are drawn to those conditions because of what we see over in Europe. It snows and we want snow, it rains and we want rain, it blows sideways and we want it to knock us down. I guess deep down in our souls we realize that in order to call yourself a true cross racer, you will be required to race in conditions that make the mere mortal cyclist stay inside on the trainer.

Montgomery continued the tough racing conditions that we have experienced pretty much all season long in Alabama. It was like racing on a peanut butter covered sponge. They actually re-routed the course before the Master Men's race because the water crossings were too deep. No matter how hard you pushed, you still went the same speed. Changes in air pressure seemed to work the best, but irregardless of wet tire or dry tire, it all came down to how you managed your power to get the tires to hook up.

Team CCR had 7 top 5 finishes on the day. Hardwick doubled up and won both the Master Men 45+ and the Men's B races. Lisa continued her dominance with a victory in the Women's 4 race. Stacey showed how quick she is regardless of the conditions with a victory in the Women's 1-2-3 race. Larry Stanely had a strong showing and finished 3rd in the Master Men 35+ race. Mike Herring finished just off the bottom step with a 4th place in the Master Men 45+ race. Zach went out strong and managed to secure a top 5 finish in the Men's 4/5 race. Garner struggled, it's just one of those years.

The team going into the last race at Cullman has the the potential for a podium finish in the overall team competition, and the potential to snag 5 spots in the overall competition. Another solid outing by the team.

Anniston After Dark

When the Bamacross series calendar comes out towards the end of summer, everyone looks for the (brackets) after the race venue. It means one of 2 things, either the state championships or a night race. Since the 2009 state championships have come and gone, it could mean only 1 thing going into this week. For some riders it really messes with their flow. They are used to a routine for the Sunday morning races. Eating, packing, travel, are a mastered science. Now their world is turned upside down for that one night race of the season. They spend the day discombobulated. For the rest of us, we greet the night race with the anticipation of school kids knowing that we have a day off. We are so excited that we show up 2 hours before the course even opens to get a good spot for the tent, put out the chairs and coolers, set up the bikes, and then we nervously wait. We seemed to be the giddy school kids that day. With no organized caravan to Anniston, Zach, Garner, and Powell managed to all run into each other at Chick-Fil-A, while Larry was there 30 minutes before we even got there. We still had over an hour before the first race!

We had an awesome night of racing. CCR put 3 riders on the podium. Lisa Trainor won the the Women's 4 race, while Hardwick Gregg and Mike Herring got 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in the Master Men's 45+ race. Top 10's were earned by Zach, 5th, and Josh, 7th, in the Mens CX4 race. Larry fought his way to a 5th in the Master Men's 35+ race. Hardwick, doubling up, just missed the podium finishing 4th in the Mens CX 3/4 race. Garner raced hard, but never could catch back on after a first lap incident with several riders. The team put in a solid effort and is setting themselves up for a top 3 finish in the overall team standings with efforts like this. Check out some photos from the racing.