Trek CXC Cup Race Report by Joe King

Race Report Joe King-
It was really great to be able to hang out in the AMR tent with a few teammates this weekend.  I raced the 55+ 1/2/3 and was squashed like a little bug -- and I'm thrilled about it! The past two years OPS (old peoples syndrome) has kept me away from racing.  The list of OPS complaints is far too long to go into here.  Most people know about my frozen shoulder which is otherwise known as hair-dressers disease and doesn't usually inflict us guys.  In any event, that's gone but several other OPS ailments have persisted which have kept me from sprinting or high-intensity workouts of any kind.  When I toed the line Saturday morning I didn't know whether or not I'd be able to finish a cross race.  If you've ever raced crossed you probably know there's no such thing as a low intensity cross race.

I was so very thrilled to finish strong both days.  My placings were toward the back indicating I've got a long way to go before getting back to where I was two years ago.  The course was similar both days and not having practiced skills much I was conservative with all of the technical bits.  I was really happy to be able to ride down the hill the second day -- realizing that it was getting less slippery as the day wore on.

The heckles were abundant for the aero helmet with the face shield in place on day one.  The optics of that shield are very good and surprising because this was the first time I've used it.  That was the fun but when I put it on for day two, one of the magnets that hold it in place had come off the shield.  So day two was without heckles and I sort-of missed them.  My placing on day two was a bit surprising.  It seemed to be well executed but I finished further back.  Oh well, we'll see how the WCA races go in October.

-Joe King



**** More photos and race reports from Trek CXC Cup to come in the next few days. Check