Crater XCO 2012

More than one week later I find some time to write on my blog. Don’t worry, I was pretty busy during this time. The week before the race I had a nice trip with my girlfriend on the highest road of Romania: Transfagarasan and Transalpina. For me was the first time there and even if I was in the car for sure was damn impressive. If the guys from Top Gear already saw the Transfagarasan, they should try Transalpina. The levels of adrenaline will increase for sure. One of the photos taken on Transfagarasan can be found on my DeviantArt account. For sure this was the most spectacular trip ever had in Romania.

Got back in Cluj Friday evening and Saturday with my team mates Eli, Tudor, Nicu and with our girls went for Oradea. For all of us this will be the second consecutive time there. The last year course was pretty cool and this year we even had a few new sections. I was thinking that we will have some pump track sections but maybe this will happen next year.

After a few laps I’ve noticed a lot of sharp rocks a few tight turns and a few hard climbs. After that I went with Nicu and Simona at the thermals baths in 1Mai so we had a pretty relaxing evening.

Sunday was a big day. It was my birthday, but it was the race day also. I was pretty nervous because it didn’t rain enough so the course was pretty dusty after all the rider training and new sharp rocks were showing off. The start was pretty fast and I couldn’t keep the speed with the first group so I tried to have a constant pace. In the third lap disaster strike. I cut the rear tire, my guess is that a sharp rock was guilty and I ran almost on a flat tire for almost a lap. The cut had almost 1cm but the sealant managed to keep just a small amount of air pressure and to get to the technical area. Even if I was hitting the rim at almost every root I’ve changed the wheel and pushed harder. I hopped that the thunder won’t strike twice in the same place and I was lucky to finish the race. I was 4th, my team mate Eli 2nd and Tudor had a DNF with the same problem I had in 3rd lap.

I am totally responsible for this because I saw a possible danger with that rocks and I risked with lighter casing tires. But I learn a lot from these experiences so next time I will be prepared not to have any other surprises.

I would like to congratulate the guys from VeloSport Oradea for a great race, to my girlfriend for being next to me (in every single way), to my team mates for the birthday present, to Raluca for the help at the feedzone and to every one that cheered me up during the race. Seems that the spectators are learning how to cheers up and that’s a good thing !

And once again I can not finish this race report with the special thanks to all my sponsors and partners: Maros Bike, Cannondale Bicyles, Ashima, Continental, Sapim Spokes, Adidas Eyewear, Cratoni, Tune, Xpedo, Grip Grab, Sram, Restwise, Joe’s No Flats, Kool Stop, TruckerCo, Light-Bikes.ro and  VDO.

More photos from Crater XCO can be seen here.

For me and my team mates the next race will be the 4th stage from Clujul Pedaleaza Championship, hopefully right after I will have the chance to get at Eurobike for a couple of days and then come back for the XCO/XCE World Championships in Austria. So I will have a busy schedule but for sure it’s the most exciting season of my whole life.

Here are also some articles in the local media, but where you can spot me:

– Oradeanul.com – Crater XCO Betfia 2012

– Crisana.com – Cupa Crater XCO Betfia

– Digi 24 – Cu bicicleta langa Crater

Cheers,Vlad