Hermann Cross Under the Lights

What an amazing race to open the season with! The race was in Hermann, MO which is a small town in wine country littered with wineries and B&B's. Certainly had all the elements of a good 'cross course and a stacked field of racers. At the start there was a technical twisty section into an off-camber double barriers that were at least 20 inches high. Then down the spiral road section into the darkness. A couple fast grassy stretches with U-turns, a sand pit, then the long slog through the mud (150+ meters). The last and most prominent feature on the course was the steep stairs about 6o of them. Count 'em 60*13 laps = 780 stairs... this was a make or break for most and a lot of people were broken down.

So the race begins with a lot of callups and palmares for many of the racers. State and National Champions abound from many of cycling's disciplines and guys with UCI points as we round out the nearly 50 racer field. I of course did not send in my 2006 State CX championship so NO call-up for me. Three full rows of call-ups, then the rest... I anticipated this so got tucked right up in behind the third row. Tweet and the chaos starts through the twisty turny top section. People are jammed in like sardines, some off their bikes, some on as wheels overlap, people go down as the mass makes its way forward. Quite a mess actually but it moves along to the barrier section and then we get rolling. The first lap wasn't too bad as I kept on the gas to make up some ground from the start position. I wasn't chancing the sand pit on riding as it was very deep and I watched people endo over on pre-rides. So run the sand and hit the mud section. The lower part of the course was completely under water the week before due to flooding, so the ground being saturated had turned into a tractor-pull like mud pit after the early race. Make it through the mud and out onto the road section leading into the stairs. Up the stairs in major traffic, but gun it through the start finish to start getting separation from the rest of the field. The essentially went on lap after lap and the mud became the hardest part of the each one. Other racers from local teams gradually faded back and I kept making my way up through the field. Honestly I never knew where I was in the field due to the darkness and oxygen debt. About midway through the race a fan at the top of the stairs waived a dollar in my face and somehow I just snatched it out of his hand... the crowd went wild!! 8 laps to go OMG. Not really knowing where I was but I just knew that had passed a bunch of the 360 guys... finally on the bell lap Songer and I had swapped positions a few times and going into the final stairs, I leaped up the stairs as hard as I could and got separation into the finish. We had been lapped by the leader and the 2nd place guy at the very end. Ended up in 16th. Going into this race I had zero expectations, but was happily surprised given the field and conditions... especially no lights and a mud clod in my left eye.

Scott Hupping it thru the mud