Lunca Timisului CX – mud, rain and rock&roll

Well, I was pretty much expecting this race, but checking the weather forecast 3-4 times a day didn’t brought me any joy as I knew it’s gonna be hard. And muddy. Again I went on the road with Florin in the race morning because it’a a 3h and half journey and I want it to save so money and time as on Friday I am finishing the job duties pretty late and the traffic… well let’s not talk about this.

So we got in the car and at 5:55 we’ve left my place. At 9:30 sharp we were already in Urseni, passing over the Timis river dam, getting our registration kit and preparing the bikes to check the course.

First lap and first crash but at least it wasn’t raining, yet.

Everything was ready so it was time for the late breakfast and last ideas before the race. Right before the start a drizzle started so it became slippery right from the first corner. The start was better but not close to what I want. Not yet, don’t worry fellas.

I was kinda lucky because a guy that was in my right made a mistake in the second corner and I’ve barely made it.

During the race I started to pass riders that a week ago were way in front of me and it was a proper battle for every spot. I did the best I had at the moment and right now my goal is to be better than yesterday.

The Baby Limus tubulars at 1.5 that bar were perfect, until the last two laps when the drizzle transformed in a proper cold rain. I still need to improve my running skills and to gain again the confidence to jump over the barrier on the bike. Maybe the course was maybe a bit too bumpy and had too many tight switchbacks (22 / lap) but overall was a good experience. With some tweaks here and there it can be even cooler.

In the end I was 3rd overall and 3rd at Master category so I’ll take that. I was happy to bring on the podium the Cannondale softshell and the Sram beanie.

Many thanks to everyone involved into my progress and supporting me. Having you by my side means more than you will ever know.

The next race will be at Fagaras for the 3rd round of the Romanian Cyclocross Cup on December 2nd.

By the way, Challenge tires are brought in Romania by Cycle Master, so orders yours today !

Cheers, Vlad