Patrick Beeson

The second race of the Mud, Sweat and Gears cyclocross series presented a new obstacle for racers: sand. And it tripped up more than one racer as the event photos reveal.

This race, held at Winged Deer Park in Johnson City, Tenn., is the other venue for the MSG series. It's my favorite because of the open terrain -- it's held in a large, rolling field -- and unique obstacles such as the aforementioned sand.

The course also featured two sets of barriers instead of Steele Creek's one.

My modus operandi for this race was to race better than last week regardless of my finishing position. And I believe I did just that.

I managed to control the violence of the start and maintain a reasonable amount of suffering throughout each lap. I did fumble with a dropped chain after one set of barriers as well as a slipped seat post.

Those mechanical mishaps cost me a position -- I was drafting the competitor in sixth at the time.

I finished seventh out of 11 racers this time around, which again put me in the prize list. Last week's effort netted a $20 gift certificate to Tri-Cities Cyclery that I cashed in for a pair of Descente gloves.

The overall results show me in fourth place with four races left in the series. Racers must complete four races to be eligible for this competition, something I hope will work in my favor.

There is no race this weekend due to the USGP in Louisville, Ky. Lindsay has the reins instead, which I believe will take us to an adventure on the Creeper Trail in Damascus, Va.

I'm hoping the next two weeks will bring much colder temperatures to the area (maybe rain) for a more genuine CX atmosphere.

Journalism note: I have yet to see a single media organization covering the series. This is astounding considering how unique the sport of cyclocross is as well as the fact that it would make for fantastic video or multimedia.

Here is the only blurb I could find on The Herald Courier's Web site:

The Cyclo-cross, which feature divisions for men, women, masters and juniors, combines cycling with hiking.

I think they could have done better by looking up the definition of "The Cyclo-cross" (it's "cyclocross") on Wikipedia.