October 24, 2007 - UCI Under 23 Wins

Jamey Driscoll went 2 for 2 this past weekend and is now undefeated in at UCI races in the Under 23 category. He writes the following race reports:

Driscoll Top Under 23 at Granogue Cross, UCI, Delaware, October 20th

The voyage as a team began at papa Peck’s house, where we all met up to carpool down. We decided to stay the night and do the driving in the blue sky morning as opposed to the heavy rains of the night before, a wise decision, as some of our fellow racers arrived to their hotel in the wee hours of the morning. I mean 1 to 2 am, as these hours are numerically the smallest of the day.

Delicious bagel sandwiches and coffee, for those of us fallen to the addiction, got us on the road in style. An uneventful journey ensued, thanks to the impeccable navigational skills of Mr. Marzot. With all the rain we experienced on the way down, I was hoping for a good ol’ mud fest. This hope was quickly shot down as we parked next to the muddiest part of the course in years past, and it was dryer than usual.

We all rode the course to get the feel, made our final preparations, and headed over to the start. Many riders say this is a great venue, Jeremy Powers was even quoted as saying, “Races like this are why I race cyclocross.” This is saying a lot from someone who’s spent multiple seasons in Belgium.

My start was a bit more eventful than I had hoped, dodging the Danish national champ, who slipped out of his pedal a few meters off the line, only to be right behind another rider who broke his chain a couple seconds later. For the past couple weekends with a bad start I haven’t been able to claw my way back up through the pack, but this race I was able to, settling in with another rider for 8th place.

A group of 2 were just up the road and another 2 weren’t too far behind us, so the pressure was on. Not to mention, our host was cheering on the sidelines that if I didn’t beat my teammate Matt White, I’d have to sleep on the floor. None the less it made me slip up the greasy run-up even faster every lap. I managed to hold on to 8th overall and 1st for U23, while Matt rolled in a 13th, and Toby was 23rd.

Driscoll Does it Again at Wissahickon Cross, UCI, PA, October 21

The next day brought us into PA, and a course with more turns than I care to count. This time it was my turn to mess up the start, pulling out of my pedal, and arriving to the first turn in the swarm of riders. This course is great for singling out a field in no time at all with nearly 6 switchback hairpin turns before a huge sandpit with only one line through it.

The groups established early, and White made the front chase group, who only Jeremy Powers was ahead of, and I saw myself in the second main group, and Toby was not far behind. Unfortunately, I saw White rolling backwards with a flat tire, and the pits a ways off. I later found out he was dead last before he was able to get another bike.

There was some excitement in the group I was riding with, the fossils of the group (Tilford and Myerson) were really going at it, throwing everything they had at each other, scrawny elbows, smooth shaved knees, and a word now and then, asking if each other’s mother loved them enough growing up. Frankly, I was surprised they could remember that far back.

Anyways, a flat tire took me out of that group and I rolled in for a 15th on the day, first U23 again, while White made his way back to 20th spot, only to be beat in the sprint by someone who can’t even buy tobacco in Utah yet. Marzot was close to follow in 24th. The trip concluded with a mere 10 hours of travel to put me in bed sometime in the wee hours of the night.