Orchardcross - Hampton, NH

Orchardcross in Hampton, NH has been on my race agenda for the past five years. Today was the ten-year milestone for this race. I have witnessed this race become what it is today, a great highly attended fun race thru an apple orchard. The pump track, hay bale maze, Belgian steps, and barriers make you have to earn each lap while experiencing some features you may only encounter once a season!

I entered the 3/4 race and started at the back of the pack. Forty-five degrees and super muddy conditions made for classic NE CX conditions. I was battling with several riders for the first two laps, then started to cross a large gap and picked off several riders. I'll happily take 48th out of ninety. I could have done a lot better, starting almost DFL the initial turns had bottlenecks that prevented me to advance early in the race.

The bike upgrades this year have helped, the Sram one by set up is great, I think today would have been cut short had I still had my double chainring up front.