Hurricane Joaquin. We were all waiting to see what the weekend would be. Rain most of the week had us wondering how sloppy Cooper River CX (CRCX) would be. I must admit, I was a bit excited for some "epic" conditions.
Joaquin was a tease for us here in NJ. It actually stopped raining the morning of the race and to my surprise, the course was not sloppy at all. Sure, it was wet and there were areas that were spongy but no "epic" mud. I arrived at the course early and did a lap on my pit bike just so I wouldn't have to clean my race bike. Other than wet shoes and toosh, I was pretty clean. I watched the races before mine, noting how conditions were changing slightly. I opted to stay dry and not go out again until my race.
I lined up in the front row with the other ladies and waited for the whistle. In the past, the paved start at CRCX has spooked me. Today, it didn't phase me. However, I didn't have the best start. When the whistle blew, I watched the ladies field pass me as if I was going backwards. I was toward the back of the pack going onto the grass.
I was able to make a few passes in the first few turns and had a wheel to chase. I found myself at 5th place at this point, hunting down two other girls. I took some of the corners cautiously, knowing there were wet roots I could slide on. I hammered on the straightaways and eventually moved into 3rd place. I had 2nd place in front of me and 4th place behind me. We had a race within the race.
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| photo by B. Boyle |
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| photo by T. Garcia |
We were all fighting for spots on the podium. The ladies I was with were faster than me through the barriers. I was able to make up some time in other parts of the course. We traded positions. But during the last lap, I slipped back from 2nd place to 3rd and stayed there. I f
inished 3rd and made the podium. As you can see, Lauren had the right idea for the photo.
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photo by L. Festa
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