1, October 2007

Greetings

It was a great weekend for racing in New England. On Sunday, the Richard Sachs
Cyclocross Team met in Massachusetts for the Amesbury 'Cross. This was our
fourth weekend of racing and were presented very well atmo*. Present at the venue
were Matt Kraus, Brian Hayes, and the A-Team, Amy Wallace and Alie Kenzer.

It was a very interesting course set on the grounds of a municipal park, and adjacent
to the Amesbury High School. As is the drill, all of us found parking space near each
others vehicles, and once the engine's are cut and the doors open, the party begins
and no one is left out.

Matt (a.k.a. Pookums) uncharacteristically raced twice. Though a nationally ranked Elite
level racer, Matt's birthdate affords him the luxury of racing Masters 35 should he desire.
Note: except for the National Championships, I've never known him to race age-graded. It
turned out to be a good decision to double up, as Matt broke the 4 race weekend winning
streak of Canadian Pascal Bussieres and came home in first place. Shweeeeeet atmo.

In the Elite Women's race, the A-Team nearly completed the double for the hole-shot
into the woods but some narrow lanes and heavy traffic killed the deal. By the end of the first
lap, Amy had been flip-flopping between third and fifth position, something that would come
to represent how it would all end. With three and two laps to go, I was sure that a third place
was ours. But 'cross racing is not that predictable, and we netted a fifth spot for a very strong
effort. Pal Alie (Palie?) was in the next selection fighting for a top ten spot. At the end of the day,
a very strong last lap saw Palie (it starts) make up a couple of places and end with a ninth.
Forza A-Team.

In the Elite Men's event, Matt lined back up and took his licks with such heavies as Jeremy
Powers and Marc McCormack. Matt did get the hole shot and split the field before lap one
even ended. He and Powers had made a selection and raced within ten to twenty seconds
of each other for the next several laps. Ultimately, Powers snapped a chord and Pookums
was racing for second. But - yikes! - McCormack smelled a paycheck at the race's end and
left a chase group to finally catch on to Matt with about a lap to go. Matt ended with a third after
a great sixty minutes of racing. Brian's race was mid-field for the first forty minutes or so, and it
ended at the start of the final lap when caught riders were getting pulled. Typical racing on such
a short track. No matter, it was a good day of training and racing, and it all will pay dividends
when we start the UCI races next weekend. The venue will be Southampton, New York and the
event is the Whitmore's Landscaping Super Cross Cup. And while our Justin Spinelli is finishing
up his road season with his pro team at the Tour of Mexico, the rest of us will have the pleasure
of welcoming North our team mate from North Carolina, Jon Hamblen.

Well that's all I have for you this week, and I'll add that I am shamelessly using my Sony Mavica
at every spare moment, and I have begun to mine race images from cats with real cameras. All
of these pics live here. Please have a look around.

Thanks for reading.
e-RICHIE©™®
*according to my opinion
______________________________
Thank you for your interest and support.
The Richard Sachs Cyclocross Team is sponsored by RGM Watches,
Rex Chiu, Radix Group LLC, Ozell, Stankus Architects Associates, as
well as by Cane Creek, Crank Brothers, Rudy Project, Oval Concepts,
Challenge, VergeSport, Selle San Marco, JB Custom Paint, Nelly's Deli,
and The Wheatmarket
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