visitPA.com cyclocross: report from the deep south 

By Ryan Leech

11/02/08

My waning days on the visitPA.com squad have been spent racing cyclocross not in my homeland, but based out of the "lowcountry" of coastal Georgia. I say waning because my tenure as a graduate student in Savannah keeps me far from away from the necessary residence back in PA and my place on the team won't be renewed.

My foray into racing, deep South style has been spotty at best due to the driving distances and time crunches with school work. Bummer! Luckily, the local crew in Savannah was hosting race #2 (October 19) of the GA State Cyclocross series (georgia-cross.com). Within weeks of moving here, I was banging nails and setting up the course at the local dirt track speedway, as if I'd been here for years.

Having never raced in Georgia before, I didn't know what to expect from the Elite 'crossers, or what to expect of my 1-2 days per week training regimine. I was pleasantly surprised at both! The competition was strong and my fitness had stayed from a solid summer of mtn. bike racing with the team. The race played out well for me, riding in the lead group of 5, popping riders one by one. Including me. Fighting cramps for the final 20 minutes, I rolled through in 3rd place. It was perfect: getting 3rd motivated me to slip in more training during the week, knowing that with just a bit more work I could be winning these races.

Oct 19 GA CX #2 – Savannah

1 Oscar Clark FFCC
2 Nathan Sibly
3 Ryan Leech visitPA.com
4 Troy Adams Spin Lite
5 Tim Barrett Myogenesis 

Sure enough, 2 weeks later my increased training work paid off. GA State series #3, held at the Olympic MTB and equestrian park in Conyers. Usually racing in November up North is a cold and wet affair. Racing in Conyers was just the opposite. Again the race saw a larger lead group of 6. One by one they popped off or crashed out. With two laps to go, I was sitting comfortably behind series leader Oscar Clark. Small attack efforts weren't paying off for either us of, so into the final lap we came through neck and neck. We raced all the way into the final corner, 300 meters to the finish. As I stood up to sprint and pass Oscar, my legs locked in cramps. For a few seconds it literally felt as though my legs were pedaling in squares rather than circles. Regardless, I out sprinted him to take the win.

Nov 2 GA CX #3 - Conyers

1 Ryan Leech visitPA.com
2 Oscar Clark FFCC
3 Tim Barrett Myogenesis

Thanks for reading!