Verge #8 and #9 : Rhode Island

Or how to suck in Rhode Island....

I dont know why, but these 2 races always get me. I know the Sunday course is a bit technical for me, but Sat is tailor made for me. Not this year!

With family obligations, I had to make the LONG drive from ME to RI Sat at 4:45 AM. This would cause me one major mistake. During that time, pre-race, I only ate a bagel w/peanut butter. I am 99% sure I was low blood sugar pre-race.

the start went well and I holeshot into the sand, with Mark Mc and Johnny B. on my tail. Onto the second pavement section, Johnny and I punched it and got a gap. I felt good. The pace was hard, but doable. About 1/2 lap later the group had formed w/me, Johnny, Mark Mc, Keven H, Mark S, one other Corner cylce dude and Roger A from Westwood. We stayed this way for 2.5 more laps with Roger driving the pace. Then it happened...I started to get lightheaded and blurry eyed. I started to blow out of corners and feel "spacey". During this time, Johnny crashed right in front of me, and I almost ran into him. I eventually had to pull over and put my head on the seat, I was slurring my words and wobbly legged. My day would end right there. DNF = zero points. Fuck me.

I almost bailed for home, as i thought I was catching the bug that the kids had. But after I ate, actually felt ok, and it was becoming more clear...maybe this was a calorie issue?? So I stayed down and decided to make a gameday decision.

sunday I awoke to 1+ inches of fresh snow...but I headed down to Goddard Park to end the season with a finish at least...and that's about all I got. To summarize : my legs we bad, and my technical skills even worse. 18th place = zero points.

so in the end, I would drop 2 spots to 9th in the series and head home to Maine to a end of season break and regroup.

all in all, the CX season went well. I was "in" most of the races and able to make a few $$ here and there too. for 2009 I am hoping a complete summer of training consistenly will pay divendends next Sept with an EVEN bigger Verge NE series on the schedule.

For now, it is Belgium Beer and Ice cream for a few days!

Some pics from Zach Magoon: