It's a Beautiful Day...................................

For some reason on days like yesterday at MSG #1 I think of that U2 song, not just because it was meteorologically a beautiful day, but because the whole cross thing was beautiful. All the cool people that I haven't seen since last December, all the cool bikes ( like Mike Seeks Big single speeder), the course with all the colorful tape billowing in the breeze, smiles and relaxed atmosphere, and all the little kids. When I got out of my truck that morning it was really beautiful to see all the volunteers there, best of all was my ole' buddy Bart standing there with a cup o Starbucks bold coffee with cream. Can't say enough about the volunteers you guys are awsome!

The battle of the day was the pro 1/2 race between Eric and MSG Sponsor Andy Applegate. There were only 7 that showed up and after Will Black pulled a Bookwalter and gapped everyone by about 2:00 I thought well this race is over. Not so, Eric pulled up to within a minute of the leader and had a huge gap on Andy. I thought Eric's going to take second, but slowly but surely Andy pulled back to Eric and with two to go they rode together. Exitment really started to build when the came through the turns behind the finish line. Eric was in a primo position right on Andy's wheel. I could see those big levers of Eric's twitching for the sprint. As they made the final turn Andy was still in front and winded up the sprint. Everyone was cheering their names (I didn't know who to cheer for cause I like them both), Eric started around Andy, they were neck and neck coming to the line and at the last second Andy through his bike taking the win by about a half wheel length. Thanks to you guys for making that one of the most exiting finishes I ever seen and showing us why you guys are Pros. Thanks to Bart Nave Photography for the awesome race pics like the one at the right.

There was a scary moment in the CX3, Masters race that wasn't so beautiful. Jeremy Chandler, a veteran MSG crosser, came into the barriers fast and tripped over the first one causing him to fall face first into the second one. When I came through and saw him lying their bleeding from the nose and saying his neck was hurting my hear sunk. Fortunately his dad John who is physician and his mom Susi who is a physician's assistant were there and did a great job of assessing the situation and getting him ready for transport to the hospital. Thank goodness he is okay. He fractured his wrist and busted his nose and thankfully there was no other serious injury. That made it a truely beautiful day. Can't wait to next week, promoting bike races is a lot of work but what I get from cyclocross is well worth the effort.