The Marin cross demo and I headed down south to take part in the local series held at the Southern Oregon Raceway in White City. These races are usually somewhat small in terms of numbers, but always fun and there is always a small group of strong A's that show up. We were blessed with clear skies and a fairly dry course. Matt, Anna, and I set up the demo and got a couple of people hooked up with a demo bike. Reception of the demo bikes has been great and people are loving the ride. Matt and I got a bit of a warm up and then it was time to go to the pain cave. Evan Plews showed up and he and I along with anot
her rider strung the 20+ man field out on the first lap. Evan did not get a warm up in before the race and fell off the pace leaving the Pacific Power rider and I out front. I felt good and pushed the pace the first couple of laps in hopes of putting some time on Evan. About mid race I noticed Evan was moving up through the field so I pulled off the front and made my "break away" partner do some work. My plan worked great...Evan came by us like a freight train and I jumped from second wheel to grab on to Evan. A gap formed immediately continued to grow the rest of the race. Now I have been racing against Evan for six years now. I have shared the podium with him on several occasions, but I have never beat him. I held tight to his rear wheel and felt like I might have a chance at a sprint finish. The bell lap came and we hammered along...no problems through the first half of the last lap. As we went through the s
econd set of barriers I fumbled a bit getting back into my right pedal...just as Evan put in an acceleration....DAM! A small gap formed(the first and only) but that was just enough. I was at my limit, and no matter how I tried I could not close it down in the last couple corners heading to the finish. I rolled through about 20 seconds down, a little bummed, but satisfied with my effort. The good news is our pace put a minute plus on our third place chaser so we must have been moving. After the race we packed up and headed to Ashland for some lunch and family time. Next up....Psycho Cross in Eugene, OR-Geoff
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