MNSCS 2008 awards banquet

Saturday night was the MNSCS awards banquet. Zach and I received our awards for finishing first place in our respective age classes for the series.

The banquet was hosted by QBP. We arrived early and got to take a tour of the facility. That place is huge!!
We received some nice awards, race photos and custom engraved Park multi-tools. A great end to a fun season of mountain bike racing that would not have be possible without the continued support of Vassago Cycles.

Minnesota Cyclecross State Championship race

Saturday was the Minnesota State championship race for Cyclecross. Zach lined up with 98 other racers to attack very long ( by Cyclecross standards ) and flat course. It was cool and dry, a nice day for spectating. Zach road a smart race, drafting on most of the long straight sections that made up a large portion of the course.
The course was definitely a road racer-friendly course, not so much for us mountain biker types.
Zach narrowly missed a first corner pile-up and finished 33rd overall and 3rd in the state for juniors 15-18. Zach is 15. The sprint for the line
The podium.

Rediscovering what we already knew

After Zach's last two race's (DNF) we decided to take a week off and regroup. We went for a mountain bike ride at Lebanon Hills, one of our favorite places to play. We decided to get back to what we do best...racing single speed Vassagos.

Saturday was the cross race at the Blaine Velodrome, Zach started out in a large crowd of 67. He got caught in traffic and started in the middle of the pack and worked his way up to finish 16th overall and 2nd in 15-18. With not having a great race he was happy to be back on track again.

Sunday we were at it again, this time at the Lake Rebbecca cross race. It was cold at race time (28) but Zach was feeling good after Saturday's successful race and was ready to go. Zach lined up with 54 other racers. The course had a long straightaway after the start and then they disappeared into the woods not to be seen again until the last 30 yards before the start- finish line. So I didn't see much of the race. Every Lap Zach was moving up, 1st lap:15th, 2nd lap: 11th, 3rd lap:8th, and finished 5th overall for the day! Best overall finish of the year. And back on the Vassago where we should have been all along.

It was a great finish to the MCF cross season. Ths strong finish in the last two races helped earn Zach the title of "Cyclocross Rider of the Year" in juniors 15-18.
There are still two big races left this season, The Minnesota state championship and Nationals in December.