Patrick Beeson

It's been a few days since Saturday's Knoxiecross No. 3 at West Knoxville's Melton Hill Park, but my lips are still chapped from the wind.

I also took home 3rd place in the mens' CX3 class, which beat my previous best finish of 4th in Knoxiecross No. 2. This, on a course I've never ridden in a park I've never been to.

But what a nice course it was!

Knoxiecross No. 3 featured a lot of long stretches mowed into the park's fields. There were a few patches of pavement that helped break things up as well as an intense drop to the lake shore, with a switch-back climb back up. The coup de grace was an uphill barrier that required riders to run a brief distance up the hill before remounting.

The most intense part of the race was the start however. This was due mostly to the wind, which made for a steady headwind from the bottom of the first hill (start) to the top (finish).

Patrick Beeson races downhill after jumping back on his bike after the barrier at Knoxiecross No. 3. The race, held at West Knoxville's Melton Hill Park, is the 3rd of four races in the 2008 cyclocross series.

Credit: Erik Luchauer

All in all this was one of the better courses put together for the Knoxiecross series yet. It's also the same location for the final race of the series, which will occur next Sunday Feb. 24 at 11 a.m.

The competition in my class was more of the same as the previous race. Michael Biegalski took first, no surprise there, but Jeremy Chandler nearly out sprinted him to finish second. I finished a minute behind the leaders this time around despite some pretty consistent lap times.

One of the former CX3 bad-asses, Chad Black, moved into the CX1/2 category for this race. Black made some crazy moves early on, but faded to third at the line behind Mud, Sweat and Gears organizer Eric Wondergem.

I heard rumors of some crazy hill for the final Knoxiecross race, which should make for some good spectating. If you're interested in coming out, please let me know. And as always, bring your cowbell!