Cross Out Cancer

Last weekend was the 3rd annual Utah Cyclocross Cross Out Cancer race.  The race serves as a fundraiser for Huntsman Cancer Foundation and Livestrong Foundation.  Utahns don't mess around when fundraising for a good cause.  I believe over $10,000 was raised prior to the silent auction.

Turnout for this race is always HUGE and this year was no different.  Over 50 women lined up to race on what was a typical beautiful fall day in Utah.

The course that was set up at Wheeler Farm was fast and tight with very little room for passing.  A good position off the start would be key to a good race.  Because of my consistency throughout the UTCX series I had a front row call up and my start was actually pretty good.  I was sitting in 3rd or 4th position going into the first S-turn and then what I call the perfect storm of bad luck/poor decisions cost me 6-7 positions in just a few short seconds.  Basically I think one of the girls in front of me went into the corner hot and got stopped.  I remember grabbing the brakes and coming to a stop thinking that we'd get going right away.  I was too close to the girl in front of me to easily swing wide so I hung tight.  Well, we didn't get going and I got knocked off my bike while the entire field rode around me.

Off my bike while everyone rode away

I was now sitting in 10th or 11th position and spent the next few laps burning lots of matches to make risky passes.  By halfway through the race I had moved into 4th and could see 2nd and 3rd not far ahead but unfortunately for me I just couldn't close the gap.

I ended up finishing a respectable 4th although I admittedly was a bit disappointed because I wasted good legs and a course that suited me with a silly mistake at the start.

Moving on....I had a second race to focus on- The inaugural Matt Bronco Bradley team relay, which also served as a fundraiser for Huntsman Cancer Foundation.  The team relay was modeled after the Little 500-think the movie Breaking Away.   Okay, if you're not a bike nut you may have no idea what I'm talking about, but anyhow, the rules called for a 4-5 person team with at least two girls.  What made it interesting was that only one bike per team could be used.   We put together a killer fast team (Mark A, Mark F, Ryan A, Jenelle K, and me).  The trick was to figure out whose bike would be the overall best fit for everyone on the team.   In the end, my bike was chosen, with the seat moved down as low as possible so that Jenelle could reach the pedals.  We ensured everyone had compatible cleats to work with my pedals and even practiced our transitions prior to the race.  We were in it to win it and that is exactly what we did.

 I believe there was a little good natured smack talking going on here!

Ryan A. and I had a slick transition

 Mark F. (our anchor) celebrating victory

Podium shot

This format of relay racing was so much fun.  Thanks team for the good times.  My throat was coarse for days from all the yelling and cheering!