Also love Gange's repsonse (day1) to the announcer's suggestion he took too many risks... 

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I won, didn't I?

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Best part of my race weekend? When, on day 1, Jeff White heckles the dude who inexplicably crashes in a straightaway right in front of me, causing me to tumble and lose contact with the front group. It was funny, but also nice to know that a teammate was there to witness my major excuse for sucking on day 1. Of course, day 2's suckatude was mostly my own doing...more on that later...

Northampton has always been a tough race weekend for me. At first, it was just the technical challenges that flummoxed me, but the last couple of years (after I became at least competent at some sections, good in others) there have circumstances that have conspired to keep me from doing what I believe has always been possible in this race. Sometimes it's been my fault, other times not so much...

But whatever, that's racing. Go out there and do the best you can and quit your whining.

On day 1, I confess, I felt double dejected after getting crashed and separated from the lead line of racers. I had some good stretches, I pulled back some places, but I kind of feel like I just didn't recover from the crash, mentally (physically and mechanically, all was totally fine). In the end 32nd.

On day 2, I felt more focused, had more time to warm-up and was shooting for a solid top 20. Unfortunately the double pig tails around the ball fields flooded with 140+ riders ensured that I was too far back when the inevitable happened. I could hear Richard Fries predicting it. "With 150 riders, eventually, someone is going to put a foot down on and turn a ride-up into a run-up." And it happened, about 10 riders in front of me, I see two riders tangle and get their bikes locked together. Fortunately I had time to dismount and get my run-on. But the damage was done, the gap was created and I would never see the front group again.

With the exception of one major wipe out of my own doing, I rode a fairly clean race. But there were groups of, not one or two, but five or six riders EVERYWHERE ready to pounce at every opening I gave them. Jeff White and I were nose to tail for the second half of the race, and he offered encouraging words that helped keep me going when frankly I was getting mentally beat down.

"Don't let the course get ahead of you," he shouts. And it was, I was riding certain sections worse and worse. Mental let down. A gentle push on the back through a tortured section that I was riding and he was running kept me moving. In the final lap, I also got exceedingly clever and let a few more guys pass me...because, you know I was going to blow them away in the sprint. Guess what happened. Yeah, they totally stayed away from me. In the end 41st place.

General Race Weekend Notes:

• Really happy to hear that Patrick and family enjoyed the weekend and the NOHO area. I felt the same way after the Roazen's enjoyed the Providence weekend. I can write and talk until I'm blue in the face about how great this race or that is, but it's always good to hear other opinions to help you think about next year's CX calendar.
  
  
• Racing both days, in what I call the "Cat 4 Scrub Zone," was INCREDIBLY frustrating. Surrounded by riders who admittedly had more power than I, but didn't have the handling or racing skills to match. I found myself wasting valuable time and energy either battling idiots for lines, or altering my own approach, because I could see they were going to royally f-up the oncoming turns.
  
  
• My "favorite" opponent  was the Cat 4 junior "champion" (he literally received a medal for placing 1st amongst the juniors in our field) who was IN LOVE with the unclipping, tripod technique. Except, he still came into almost every turn way way too hot, even for his styling tripod turns, and threw me off my flow all day long. So while I carefully managed to pass him EVERY turn, he would fight back like a maniac, getting back in front of me just in time to F-up the next turn for him, me and everyone.
  
  
• The fast, flat barriers. I totally did the step-through. And dammit, I was fast and smooth over them. Anyone see this and back me up here? FAST AND SMOOTH. And I'm a shorty.
  

When learning to be a pilot, one thing your instructor always stresses is managing your workload. You need to stay ahead of your workload at all times in order maximize performance and safety in a rapidly evolving environment. You need to have your ground speed calculated, traffic control informed, stand-by radio switched to the next area's channel, fuel range estimated, and so on, as far as possible ahead of when you need it to be done. This is so you can focus on flying the stupid airplane with your hands and feet when you have to do something other than keep her straight and level.

The most relevant real-life application for this I've found is cyclocross, believe it or not. You need to stay ahead of the course, lest you find yourself making micro-corrections in the midst of each turn to avoid every niggling rock or root protruding from your line. Lest you under-commit to a left turn, find your right drop, elbow, and hip in the tape, approaching an immediate right turn, in the big ring. Lest you find yourself grabbing brakes and sticking your inside knee out instead of putting in the appropriate turn to begin with. And so on.

So yeah, eyes up and ahead all the time. Be focused on the exit of the turn before you enter the turn. Focus on the entrance to the next turn before you exit your current turn. Account for what comes after the railroad tracks before you decide which angle at which to jump them. Focus on being in the correct gear for what is coming up, before it is upon you. Stay ahead of the course. This is a lot of what folks are talking about when they refer to "flow."

A shitty blog post on the subject: http://www.pilotworkshop.com/tips/pilot_staying_ahead.htm