7 October 2010  |  Race Reports

'Cross Vegas (Not that you care anymore)

For the last few years I’ve kicked off my ‘cross season during Interbike at  ‘Cross Vegas.  No matter how burned out I was by the end of the season, I always managed to pull out a decent race- something about thousands of enthusiastic spectators/hecklers…  This year I headed into Vegas after a couple weeks at home getting over the monsters that took over my gut in Mont Ste Anne.

The ‘Cross Vegas course was pretty similar to years past, but for some reason it seemed like drafting was a little more of a factor this year.  And yet… I was a lot less of a factor.  When I was warming up, I felt like I had 3 flat tires and my brakes were rubbing all at the same time.  So… the race started and I made the front group and spent the rest of the race trying not to get dropped.  Race pace was a bit of a shock to the system, and I have never sucked a wheel so much in my life.

After Katerina and Mary traded attacks, I rode up next to Katerina and let her know that I wasn’t going to be any help at all.  Katerina attacked, I got popped, I clawed my way back up to Mary and Amy and sat on Mary’s wheel until the last lap when I got dropped again and finished fourth.  Pretty disappointing to not be on the podium, but still pretty solid for feeling like poop.

I have to mention (and sincerely thank) Cindy Koziatek of Stan’s NoTubes and Donn Kellog of Clement Tires for stepping up and making the women’s prize list equal to the men’s for the top-3 (even though I got 4th…).  Usually in a C1 race, the women’s winner makes $250 while the men’s winner makes $2300 — quite a disparity.  Luckily there are people like Cindy and Donn out there who do what’s right even though they don’t have to. (Bruce Fina and Joan Hanscom from the USGP have for years provided equal prize lists for the top-3 men and women as do the promoters of the Cincinnati UCI weekend and the MAC series) I am sure there are other promoters I am missing and I’m sorry, but it means a lot to the women out there racing to see such support for this issue from so many promoters.  Thanks guys!