Cetatuia XCO Iasi

22 Jun

Or what I can easily call: the tropical race of the year, so far.

I had to choose between two XCO races last week end: Concordia XCO, at Lugoj or Cetatuia XCO, at Iasi. I’ve decided to go at Iasi. It was an UCI C2 race and I saw that the course looks nice.

With my wife we’ve planned the trip step by step, arriving there Saturday at noon. And it was so damn hot and humid that without A/C the air was barely breathable. Still the course was dry and I’ve managed to do a few laps, just to learn it and check the most convenient lines. The course was pretty cool with some nice uphills and descents in the upper part but with a long flat section in the lower part. Not really helping me but this is racing afterwards. It also had some drops, one being pretty big, a rockgarden, a combination of oldschool and modern courses.

In the evening we were invited to a dinner with some of the riders and the organizers witch I think it was a nice gesture from their side. I believe that the riders should be friends outside the races and respect each other and during the race to be fair-play. We have to be competitive but still to learn the good things from each other in order to progress.

During the night it rained a lot, and I really mean it. It was a heavy rain storm so the dry, dusty track transformed into a sticky muddy course. The worst was for the first categories that started in the morning. We had the start at 13:00 and it was getting dryer lap after lap. Didn’t had my best start and either my best race. It was very hot and very humid, so this transformed into a race with myself, to complete the race. I had to find solutions to cool down every lap and Simona played a very important role at the tech/feedzone. I’ve managed to do all the laps even though it was over 2h long race.

As I said, I am not happy with the way I’ve raced but the 5th place brought me a few points.

Congratulations to the organizers to put everything they had in order to have a good race and for their hospitality, to everyone who raced, who cheered me up even if I had one of my worse days.

Many thanks to my wife for her support before, during and after the race, to my sponsors for the chance to race and for the awesome bike I ride.

Soon I will post the short movie too, stay tuned.

Cheers,

Vlad