Heres the report of the first wintercross race from Dan Strika

Race Report from Winter Cross I
by Dan Strika
The first day of 2007 and me and seven other guys (everyone looked sober) lined up for the B/C race at Skylands Park in Augusta.
The course was substantially different that the last time that we raced there. This time there were twists and turns in the gravel parking lot, up and down on the K2 hill, into the stadium on the gravel, one set of stairs, through a tunnel into the stadium (look out for the tractor). The hill was muddy and there were plenty of large puddles all over the course. All things considered it was a pretty fast course.Bob Carey wished us a happy new year and then said "Start!" and off we went. I got the bike moving and slammed it into the big ring . A young guy wearing a Navigators outfit took off with a powerful sprint and gapped the rest of us. I sprinted as fast as I could and caught up to him on one off the grassy sections. As I was riding behind him mud was spraying from his rear wheel into my face. There was a substantial gap that opened up between the two of us and the rest of the field. As the lap progressed we worked together and the gap got bigger and bigger. We agreed to work together and put the rest of the guys as far back as possible. By the end of the third lap of a five lap race we had over a minute gap on the rest of the field. The young guy had a real strong sprint and he stayed with me on the three running sections. Over the next lap we tested each other but I couldn't find a way to drop him and he couldn't get rid of me either. I got the impression that he was biding his time and wanted to wait for the sprint to knock me off. On the last lap I went to the front and got a bit of a gap on him on the asphalt but as soon as the technical sections came up he closed the gap. I didn't want to sprint it out with him as he demonstrated a few times that he could go real hard and fast in a straight line. We got to the K2 hill and I tried to outrun him but he closed it down again. I said to myself "Come on I can win this (never won a race before)" With about 400 meters to go we came into the tunnel in the stadium and then we exited the stadium. Only about 150 meters to go. I was in the lead and he was about 20 feet behind me. I slammed it into the big ring, let out a "Arghhhhhh" and started to sprint as hard as I could. The kid had rocket fuel in his legs and with about 60 meters to go he caught me and passed me with authority. With about 20 to go I closed down the gap but he crossed the line first by about a bike length. Later on in the parking lot as we exchanged greetings and congratulations I got a good look at him. I think he's pushing 18 years old... I just turned 46! Youth triumphed over experience. Good race, it was interesting being at the front of the field (first time for me). A little disappointed that I couldn't finish the guy off on the last lap but that's bike racing. I'll be back again next week.

http://kissena.info/more.php?id=116_0_1_0_M

good report ill be there next week aswell.


looking foward to writing a report of the phillipsburg race from two weekends ago.
done.