Patrick Beeson

The opening cyclocross event for the Mud, Sweat and Gears 2008 series was warm, sunny and painful.

This race was my first experience in the men's CX3 class -- it's basically an extra 15 minutes of Hell. Especially when your competition is nearly twice-as-fast as those in CX4.

I managed to place a respectable fifth, but there were only seven in my group. My friend Brian Chapman put it best when he asked me: "So, what you're telling me is that you got your ass kicked?"

At least I got a prize thanks to the generous MSG crew.

Needless to say, I was quite disappointed with my finish but luckily my wonderful girlfriend Lindsay Durango helped me rationalize things. Instead of dropping back down to CX4, I'm going to tough it out in the 3s.

Dwayne Letterman and the rest of the MSG terrorists put together a course reminiscent of last year's series ender at Steele Creek Park in Bristol, Tenn. It featured long, grueling straights and some tight turns in and out of the trees.

It hurt last year, and it hurt yesterday.

Unfortunately, there was one serious incident during my race that took down a fellow CX3 racer. It seems he was leaping the first barrier, tripped, and slammed face-first into the second barrier. A broken nose, possible facial-bone fractures and a possible broken neck were the result.

I didn't find out the medical diagnosis, but I wish him the best.

Next week's stop brings the series to Winged Deer Park in Johnson City, Tenn. This area featured an awesome Halloween course last year -- I hope Dwayne and crew break out some more creativity this time around!