Diving into the season: USN cup #1

After some big hours in the saddle, it was time to ref up the engine at the first leg of the USN Cup, the season opener. The rain apparently put off some other team mates, but for some reason I was looking forward to getting wet and wild.

As the whistle blew, I worked my way straight to the front to avoid any mishaps in the peloton. I also prefer riding infront of a group in muddy conditions. The bunch soon split up and I continued riding a comfortable, but reasonable pace. As we hit the first single track I soon realized that the surface wasn't to bad and I put in a effort to test the other guys. Straight away they lost my line and Iopened a gap as we slid our way through some technical sections. I was happy.

I put my head down for a while to try and get out of sight, which I thought must be pretty far when you're wearing a fluo Rudy Project helmet. Keeping in mind that this was the first race of a long season and that it was wet and slippery, I tried not to do anything stupid or take any risks. Exactly the opposite of what youmg teammate Nicholas was thinking apparently. He crashed out after sitting in a solid top 5 position.

We had to do two laps of a 30km loop. Starting the second  I staight away felt sorry for the guys at the back, the weekend warriors. Traction and grip was just nowhere to be found. Even thou there were no one in sight for me I knew that guys like Ben-Melt would be chasing hard with some serious diesel power. Luckily the race was a lot like the cross country format which I prefer, so I knew I  just had to keep momentum and hold the bike upright all the way to the finish.

Happy with a solid start to the season.
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