Ended up taking 11th in the Cat 2 field! Course was absolutely a beast - without question Mt. Krumpet was the hardest hill / downhill I've ever raced on. During my pre-ride I wasn't able to ride the switchback downhill completely in all four of my mid-afternoon laps. The frozen tundra of Iowa City was getting more and more torn up with each passing rider. The fall line was scary - if your front tire didn't grip around the turn you were got a great face full of snow fencing followed by a nice roll down the hill. Even swapping to the green Michelin Muds was not much of a help earlier in the day, and I wasn't able to get on the course between the races before the 2/3's due to the early call-up.
So the entire family came out to freeze in the wind - swept county park. I started on the front row due to a super quick trigger finger at 1:00 a.m. back in September. It was great hitting Mt. Krumpet in the top 5 to avoid what was never ending carnage. After never successfully descending Krumpet during my warmup I hit the hill with a full head of steam on the first lap. Fortunately I picked a good line for each of five laps and never faulted. I may not have been the fastest heading down the hill but I stayed on my bike, which was worth a lot. I waited around for results but after an hour they were not in sight and I was hungry for leftovers. Ended out nearly missing out on a top 10 but snagged 11th, which I was very happy with.
Here are a few pics and a video from today.
After dropping down the sketchiest downhill I've ever tackled on a 'cross bike you were treated with a quick double barrier set and a quick trip back up.
A view from Mt. Krumpet looking over the infield
The whole family braved the cold - here is the post-race shot
A view up Mt. Krumpet. We started from the top left and took the switch back down off to the right. Off camber the entire way and slick like ice. Lots of big crashes...
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