Baltimore is one tough town. Drive around it for a couple of days and tell me you think any different. No way can a bike race even compare to the hardships that the people in the neighborhood we stayed in face on daily basis. Crime, burned out buildings every other block and no shit, a machete fight took place a few blocks away from our hotel hours before checking in. You have to understand that in order to qualify for a machete fight both participants must be in possession of a machete. I mean how tough is a town when a machete fight can just break out in shopping plaza parking lot.
Now as far as tough goes in the bike racing realm Charm City is one of the tougher weekends of the season. If you have any weakness in your cross game this course will expose it for sure. It's got everything, sand, multiple dismounts, and this year for maybe the first time ever mud. All the fields were pretty stacked and a good time was had by all but don't think that the course didn't claim it's victims. Saturdays endless cornering and slick conditions challenged everyone and Sundays sun and high speed put the legs to the test. Local heroes Steevo Cummings and Mike Mihalik mixed it up with the best of the Mid Atlantic and beyond. It was cool to see such an international field in B'more, Belgians and Brits and a shit ton of Yinzers. To say the least it was a little intimidating to hear Tim Van Nuffel speaking Flemish to a teammate or coach or whoever it was in the light drizzle, felt like some "real" cross was about to go down, and it did for sure.
Thanks again to all the C3 team members and their efforts over the weekend for putting on such a high class event. Next stop back to Maryland to race for a suitcase full of sausage or something that involves a turkey.
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