I did Raleigh Cross Race #2 today.  I rode a geared bike in a race for the first time since 1994.  I placed second today.  If I'd been on the fixed gear bike I think I still would have placed second.  The race was decided on the first climb, less than a minute into it.  I settled into second place, pulling away from third while first place pulled away from me.  And that's just how it ended.

Theres's one thing for sure.  Once you get comfortable riding a fixed gear flared drop bar set up, you just can't go back to riding regular drop bars on the hoods.  It's just too sketchy going over the bumps while trying to brake hard.  The answer?  I may put flared drop bars on the geared bike with bar cons (STI does not work well for me on Midge Bars). If you really want to know about flared drop bars, read this article by one of my heros, Matt Chester.

I'm looking forward to the points race.  I'll post it next week.  Looks like this old guy is at the top.