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I was racing during the entire Master's debacle, it was terrible. I know of one our local racers who won State's in Colorado in his age group who left after the race on Saturday because he was never made aware of the restart on Sunday which was a farce anyway as they only let the guys race thirty minutes. As far as my race was concerned (50+) which was at the same time as the older Masters classes, if you were there you know it was 12 degrees with 20 knot winds in blizzard conditions. We raced on the frozen mud ruts from the day before which were difficult at best to ride. I would'nt even consider what I was doing out there racing, it was more surviving. I crashed really hard twice on my first lap and it took me a bit of time to get myself and my bike back together, at 50, crashes do hurt more. I was lapped by Ned Overend just before he headed out for his last lap and got pulled from the race. This scuked. I trained for ten months, drove to KC on crappy roads, spent a fortune like everyone else, and got pulled 30 minutes into my race. We were the last race of the day with no time restraint and only 45 racers in my group who showed up. why the hell not let us all finish on the last lap of the leader with some freekin dignity? I've never been pulled from a race in my life. It was a dream to compete in a National Championship event which I did, under absolutely the most brutal conditions I've ever raced in, let me finish what I came to do for crying out loud.For those of you who say the worse the CX conditions the better the race, if you were not at KCCX THAT particular afternoon during that race I'd beg you to differ, the warriors who battled the course conditions that day should have been rewarded with the chance to complete the race. I commend all of the older guys for simply showing up and competing on a CX day that will live forecver as just a BRUTAL affair. Cheers to you all!
Larry Grossman