Thank you Robert and Tailwind!!

Okay, so I don't have worlds of experience in cyclocross racing, but I have done enough races to appreciate a decent course from a bad one. The Ohio state championship course was pretty darned Mickey Mouse. As Tim Saari put it, kind of like a backyard barbecue course. For those in the Toledo area, think Paige/Mark's house course (please don't take offense, just not a 'complete' course).

The start line had no more than 75 meters to the first 180 degree turn and uphill. The distance from the last turn to the finish line was about 30 meters. I did not stay for the finish of the elite race, but I hope there wasn't a sprint finish. It would be pretty dangerous in my opinion, think gravel/pavement in the last turn with metal barriers about 4 meters wide. In between the start and finish were a couple of nice sections interspersed between some fairly silly chicane sections. Add to this the way the starts were set up and you have a fairly poorly run state championship, in my humble opinion. The B, Masters 35, and Masters 45 were all on the course at the same time. The elite women and men were on the course at the same time. It was good for me to have that many people on the course when I was racing just to get a little more used to the jostling and positioning required in the turns, etc.

Now for the race. I had no idea what to expect of the competition in the M45 class since I have never raced cx in Ohio. Mark W. was there from the Flying Rhinos, so I knew at least one other person. We had a nice field, in the 15 person range. I was in the second row at the start and was in the top 5 as we made the first turn. It was a bit messy through the first lap figuring out who was in what group. Near the beginning of the 2nd lap, Mark and I were together and figured out that we were 2/3 with a bit of a gap to the 1st place guy. We had a bit of a gap on the 4th place guy, but not enough to forget about him. In the 4th lap, disaster struck. I came into an off camber turn a little too hot and went down. Although I was back up pretty quick, Mark had gapped me and the 4th place guy came by as I was getting going again. I was not able to get back on their wheel and ended up 4th. As is usually the case in cx, one small screw up can take you out of a spot or two. I felt I was riding okay other than that mistake. The 'sand' pit was actually an old clay tennis court that had been let go from a maintenance perspective. It ended up being no big deal as it was fairly moist and did not provide much of a problem once the path was ridden in.

All in all, a good day racing once again. The weather was nice, the place the race was held was a really interesting old mansion (Bryn Du Mansion) in Granville. It is really unfortunate that the promoter did such a poor job of setting up the course and the registration process was a joke as well. To the point of the trying to charge an extra $10 over the preregistration fee when nothing was said on any of the information prior to the race (near riot situation). Results were posted as handwritten sheets with nothing but bib numbers. Once again, thank you Robert!