MN State CX Championships

In reality, I sat on the fence all week about heading down to Mpls for the MN State CX Championships.  Luckily Rick Laliberte put the "no excuses" guilt trip on me and pushed me off of the fence.  I am not disappointed with my decision.  I was able to catch Matt and Ben swim Friday night.  Both Matt and Ben had a big meet on Saturday too, but the green light was on, I was out of here.
I was able to talk Craig Lemieux into going with us to watch his son Pat race, we had a car full.  Rick Laliberte drove.  My race started at 11am so we were on the road at 6am which gave us plenty of time.
Of course the weather was scheduled to be crap as we drove down to the Cities.  Perfect CX weather!
No problems on the way down - we rolled into the parking lot at 9:30am.
I raced the 45+/55+ race - 45 minutes of red line heart rate.  It was cold, but no snow.
As usual I started slow but got the feel of the track quickly.  Craig was on the the course cheering me on and informing me of my position.  Lots of fast old guys for sure.
It was my first official CX race of the season so of course I was rusty but man did I have a good time!
I was able to knock off at least 10 guys and felt strong the whole race without too many mistakes.  Both legs are bruised from either hitting trees or my bike as I dismounted, all good.
I finished in the middle of the pack, I was happy with the day.
With my race complete, I bundled up and was able to hang out and enjoy the remaining races of the day.

Big Mike from Paramount Sports on the left, Craig Lemieux in the camo at the top of the Stairway to Heaven.  I have posted about this section in the past.  The place to be during the CX Championships.

Matt Engen - fellow Maplelag rider racing in the CX3 class.  Matt loves the bike as much as I do.

Pro Kenda rider and good friend Pat Lemieux warming up for the CX1 "elite" race.  Pat was the state Champion back in 2008.

John Struchy and John Goeddertz from Bismarck in line for the start of the CX 1 race.  As you can see, the snow started in ernest throughout the day.  Not even close to as bad as last year - like I said, perfect CX weather!

Kent Throlson on the steps.  Kent has been racing big time strong this season!  We hung out with his date Colleen throughout the race.  Colleen even hauled some cool ones to the top of the hill in her back pack!

Linda Cooper looking cold after her CX1/2 womens race.  Linda is always strong.  I have ridden hundreds of miles with LC - she is always ready to go anywhere no matter what the conditions.

I do not have a picture of Rick as it just didn't happen.
Check out more photos and results on http://www.skinnyski.com/ or the Minnesota Cycling Federation web page http://www.mcf.net/
A great day of racing!  So glad that we made the trip.  We headed out of town towards Fargo about 4pm with all kinds of crazy weather and road reports.  A lot more snow north of Mpls and we drove right through it.  Took us a bit longer but we were safe and sound.

Matt and I did some pro mods on the Mukluk....upgraded to an XO derailleur, XO grip shift, new Avid Speed Dial 7 brake levers (helped big time), grips and saddle.  Since most of my riding will be through the slop and grim fenders are the next deal.
Ben and I rode downtown last night with Ben on the Mukluk - needless to say he was hooked.  I am sure this bike will be used as all of us can ride it without a saddle adjustment.

Cheers!