Grote Prijs Shawnee Mission - Shawnee, Ks

20th and finally the last 'cross race of the season. Great weather and a great course. About 20% of the course was paved or gravel, about 75% was grass with really good traction. That remaining 5% is where the race was decided. The start is on a gravel road section that leads in to the parking lot and an uphill drag to the turn onto the grass. Shadd Smith led us onto the green with Bill marshall 2nd, myself in 3rd and Tige Lamb in 4th. After a couple turns Shadd crash in a fast slick turn and tied up Bill Marshall in the yard sale. I was handed the lead, but 2 turns later I hit the deck in a similar fashion. This time Tige Lamb was right behind me and hit mY bike sending him end over end. Took a few seconds to get untangled from the course tape, and I was now in dead last. I put it into serious chase mode. I got back by Tige and Alex Edwards and now had my eyes on Bill Marshall and Adam Mills. Those two were working together and I was solo. Not good for me with the wind and the gravel or pavement section. I got painfully close to guys, maybe 4 or 5 seconds, but the effects of the hard chase were killing me, so I had to watch those 2 ride away and just focus on keeping Tom Price behind me. He got by once and was riding away, then had some kind of mechanical. I caught him just as he was getting going again so I tried to push the pace. I did OK at that for a while, but Tom is relentless and stayed right with me. He eventually went by and just left me for good. While all of this was going on. Chris Wallace was off the front winning with Cameron Chambers in 2nd. Those 2 were together for a while but Chris eventually pulled away. Behind Cameron, Shadd Smith recovered some-what from his first lap crash and held down 3rd. The duo of Bill Marshall and Adam Mills came in 4th and 5th, with me cruising in for 6th. My first lap crash didn't hurt at all, other than my rear wheel got a good wobble in it that brake the brake pads the whole race. I didn't notice that till after the race. Other than the first lap crash, the only other incidents were 1 botched re-mount after the barriers and getting tangled in some course tape on the run-up. The run-up was getting very bad late in the race so the main racing line was moving to the right closer to the stake and course tape. I went over it and ended up getting tangled up. I never saw it but I heard Alex Edwards had a very bad mishap just after the barries and going onto the pavement. Hope he is OK, since he left the race immediately thereafter.