2018 Sunnyview Cross

Diablo stepped up to take over an already great race from Team Wheel & Sprocket. Nice job today!

Racing for the first time in nearly a month, today I gave a performance at Sunnyview Cross in Oshkosh that was far stronger than it will look in the published results. I was 13th of 15 in the Cat 3 Masters 35+ race. I was also the oldest rider, the realization of which didn’t please me in the slightest. Oh, well.

I got a respectable start from the second row … my best start of the season, in fact. And throughout the race I felt fast and powerful on the straightaways. By the beginning of Lap 2 I was locked in a good fight with Mac Schroeder (unattached), Mike Roth (Team Wheel & Sprocket), and Nathan Phelps (Gryphon Velo Racing). They were a little faster in the twisty, technical stuff; I was a little faster out in the open. I had good energy and I didn’t feel like I was losing anything as the race went on, despite the extra effort I was making to close one gap after another. Schroeder eventually got away but I stayed close to Roth and Phelps. John Svanda (Team Wheel & Sprocket) passed the three of us on the final lap, coming back strong after a front tire puncture early in the race. Svanda’s charge was just enough of a disruption for me that I allowed too large of a gap to Roth and Phelps. I spent the last 2 minutes knowing that I wouldn’t catch them and that nobody would catch me. It was an anticlimax to a race that otherwise was very entertaining and competitive.

Jason Kozicki (Pete’s Garage Racing) took the win, followed by Adam Raychel (Team Wisconsin / Midwest Orthopedic Specialty Hospital) and David Cestelli (unattached).

When you feel strong and have fun, you want to keep feeling strong and having fun. Hopefully the weather forecast will improve for next Saturday’s race at Estabrook Park. During the past month I skipped a couple of races that I would have liked to do if the conditions had been better. I’m going to hit this year’s mileage goal sometime in the next few days, and Daylight Saving Time runs out next weekend, but I would be pleased to do a few more races before I bring down the curtain on the 2018 season.