3 in 1

19 Sep

Even if after the National Champs I had another few races I was pretty busy so I totally neglect the blog updates. So today I will tell you a few things about XCO Race from Oradea, the Geiger Marathon in Sibiu and the 3rd stage of our local championship “Clujul Pedaleaza”.

First the XCO from Oradea. At the 3rd edition is always fun to ride there. I love the fast course.

Got there on Saturday, had the chance to check the course right before a heavy rain, that only made the dust and sand disappear and create a soil more compact, faster and with a better grip for my Continental Race King tires.

All the cool sections from previous years where still there so I just had to find the fastest lines. Right after that I went with Simona, Marius and Larisa to a Spa near by to relax a bit. We had a great evening and I was ready for the race.

The next day the start was delayed for half hour and I’ve started to feel nervous. Had a good start and found a good pace even though it wasn’t the fastest. This year I finished 6th but this result kept in 2nd overall in the XCOradea Series. Very happy about it and I hope that the guys will keep the Championship active.

Then the Geiger Marathon Challenge. First time there even though it’s pretty old race. I’ve choose the medium distance (50km) with about 1600m of climbing. As in the last races I’ve decided to ride 1×10 hoping on a track that won’t make me push the bike. The decision was good as I had to push it only for 100m which wasn’t so bad. The descends helped me a lot and really made a nice day. Finishing 4th, put me in the 5th place overall at Men Elite in the “Triad Championship”. So this was the 2nd completed national championship completed so far.

Last race before the World Cup in Norway was the 3rd stage of our local championshio “Clujul Pedaleaza”. Riding again 1×10 wasn’t an easy task but I had to push hard. I had a good start and I was 2nd behind my team mate Eli, until the last lap when Kiks from Garage Racing passed me and I couldn’t keep the pace. So I’ve finished 3rd knowing that I can do better for the upcoming races.