Jingle Crossings & Ferris Wheel Lines

Well two days of racing a difficult course at the Jingle Cross races in Iowa City, IA left the legs feeling a little weary. It was mad fun though!! Huge fields, new bike, cold weather, what else could you want? The staging was done by registration and bib# so I was in the back. #74 of 90 something starters on Day 1, which was the last couple of rows. I couldn't see or hear the ref and next thing you know people are going and I still have my jacket on. Throw the jacket and let 'er rip and tear through the field, taking no prisoners. The first runup was mayhem... everybody was falling and couldn't get any traction up the muddy slope. By the 2nd lap I'm sitting in 4th!!! Few more laps go by and one of the KC locals swings by me and I grab his wheel. He bobbled in the sand section and I went down behind him... he got a gap on me and I could never bring it back. My shifter would not shift after getting gummed up with sand so I was constantly struggling with that the rest of the race. Finished in 6th, felt pretty good. The X-Fire performed great and felt so light on the runups and barriers. I'm really going to like this bike.

Day 2 - It was rumored the top 10 from day 1 would get call-ups to the front, so I was ready for the chance to make the podium. Well it didn't happen and again last 2 or 3 rows in a 110 person field. The course was reversed today with a long steep runup. Tried to get through the field today but everytime I'd make a move, somebody was flailing in front of me. Two big crashes in the first lap made things intersting, luckily I steered clear. Keep slogging through them and near the end of the first lap, I'm passing on an inside corner of a tight muddy section and I literally get pushed into a bush. There I am hanging off the ground, sticks poking my back, feet still in the pedals when I hear and I quote "That's what you get mother fucker!" I don't even know what to say.... pull myself out of the sticks, get going, and catch right back up to the guy and was like what was that... he says "wait your turn". My response "This is a race you punk, not a line for the ferris wheel!", accellerate and dust him. Make my way to 11th and that's all I had. The huge runup killed me. I still couldn't believe the attitude from this guy, sure I made a hard inside turn which probably cut him off a little, but they were going slow and I had already made up 60-70 places, come one. If you aren't aggressive you can sit at the back and that's where you should be.... or in line for the ferris wheel.

Here's some video from my teammate Mr. Dunsmuir of the Elites on the first runup.

Check out the pics.

Wells taking snapshots .. of me

Elite Lineup - Horner Tilly Wells

Muddy Runup

SupaFast Downhill - Bjorn

Markos Bob Brown