Thursday, December 13, 2012

Coaches Corner - Trois

The third segment in the coaches corner centers around one Zac Stanley.  Zac has had a tremendous run in the 35+ B's this year.  He has consistently rolled in the Top 5 and even bagged the top step.  Here's his rendition of 13 questions...no offense 50 Cent, it's not quite 21 questions.

1.Bikes?
     a) Rock Lobster Team Aluminum w/ Easton EC90SL wheels, SRAM Rival 1x10 group,     Paul Mini-moto brakes and an ENVE fork.
     b) Rock Lobster Euro Cross Steel w/ Mixed SRAM group.

2. What category do you race?
     35+ B's through the end of this season then I'm moving up to A's.


3. High point of the year so far....
     Winning BASP #2 @ Candlestick

4. How often do you ride?
     I try to ride 6 days a week in one capacity or another

5. Have you ever been coached before?  How has it gone?
     This is my first time being coached. I like it. There is no denying that Brian has helped me     get results I never thought I could get. I have a lot to learn yet.

6. Pre race meal?
     Steel cut oatmeal with some trail mix and banana thrown in.

7. Post race meal?
     Burritos, is there anything else?

8. Beer? Coffee? Wine?
     Beer - 21st Amendment Back in Black. Coffee - Peet's Italian Roast. Wine - In a box.

9. Coffee?
     Cream for color only

10. Do you eat broccoli stem?
     No!
11. Favorite cross racer...
     Zach Macdonald - He's really good at wheelies and doesn't shave his legs.

12. Favorite course....
     I like Coyote Point in San Mateo. It has everything - punchy climbs, sand, technical single track, fast straightaways. Suits a rider like me.

13. Disc brakes?  What do you think?
     Maybe, but I just bought a new rig this season with Minmoto's.  I said no to carbon wheels for 2 seasons and I now I'm wondering why I waited so long.

Zac hitting the barriers at Santa Rosa Cup Round 1

Zac on the top step!
     

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Coaches Corner - Part Deux

That's two for the uninitiated.  As in this is my second blog post about some of my most excellent people that I coach.  Next up....Marin local and major stock broker Brian Urey.  Brian has been with me for almost the entire year.  He has put in tremendous efforts throughout the season.  If lady luck was on his side there would have been some kisses from the podium babes.  Now here's Brian.....


1.  What is your bike set up? – 2012 Specialized Crux disc set up SS w/BEER Components BB30 eccentric.

2.  What category do you ride? Depends on the race and what time the SS cats are scheduled. I am a morning person so I race SS/B in the BASP races and 45+ B in most of the others (CXSR, Stafford, Lion).

3.  Highlight of this season....so far... I guess for me it would be the sprint finish between 3 of us Mill Valley guys at the Sierra Point SSB race. Or maybe the Cesspool of Filth at Stafford Lake

4.  How often do you get out and ride? As often as Coach Brian tells me to! I have a pretty good set-up which allows me to commute home from work several days/week. 15 miles with multiple opportunities to link in more miles, jump off pavement and practice some cross skills, or just spin the legs out.

5.  Is this your first time being coached?  What do you think? Yes, first time I have hired a coach. It’s great having someone getting me off my ass and onto the bike even when I don’t want to go ride. In the past I have always just gone out and ridden, with no structure or specific goals. Brian has dialed in my workouts so I can have a strong cross season and so far I am getting my best results ever. Very happy.

6.  Favorite pre race meal? Blueberry pancakes with a “green” blender drink on the side first thing, and then Coconutz Fuel balls to keep the tank full before the race.

7.  Favorite type of food? Italian, Mexican, Thai, pizza, Fork Catering, it’s all good.

8.  Beer or wine or coffee? IPA, cheap red, and Peets!

9.  Coffee?  How do you take it? Black, in my orange Bike Monkey mug.

10. Do you eat the stems of broccoli? You mean people besides my 10yr old don’t eat the stems of broccoli?

11. Favorite cross rider and why? Brian Staby of course! Seriously though, I guess I would say Scotty Chapin because of his fantastic moustache and the way he rocks the SS against the best of the geared guys.

12. Favorite course you have ever ridden on and why? Golden Gate Park, may it RIP. Love the tacky singletrack and general atmosphere.

13. Disc or not?  In the future????  Disc for 4 years in a row now. Avid BB7 road discs work great.

Making the Rounds at the Santa Rosa Cup

Yellow shoes = Super fast

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Coaches Corner - Part 1

Many of you might not know but CX Nation (myself) also offers coaching services.  I am different from a lot of the cycling coaches out there, in that I specifically coach cyclocross racers.  Now this doesn't mean that I have my clients only ride cross bikes.  Mountain bike, road bikes, track bikes and even cafe cruisers all have their place in racing, but I structure programs around cyclocross season, specifically.  Over the years I have seen a trend where more and more racers and just focusing on cyclocross.  This is great for the growth of the sport.  But with our season going from September to January, there are different aspects that a coach and racer need to take into account.  Not to leave you hanging but this post isn't about those "aspects".  I wanted to focus on the riders because I coach some pretty awesome athletes.  So I am writing some blogs on them.....

First up is Fritz Wisor..... When I started my business Fritz was my first client.  He is like that dollar bill that is framed on the wall of all businesses.  He's worth more than a dollar though.  He raced in the Open B's last year and then made the tough jump up to the Master's A's this year.  In the B's he progressively moved up the placings and then in the final BASP at Coyote Point he lost the race by a bike throw.  As a new coach it was my proudest moment.  Here is a little more about Fritz... (Note: I did not change any of the wording in Frtiz's original email.  It's all in his words.)

    1.  What is your bike set up?
                Jamis Supernova- Sram Force, Avid Shirty ultimates and Edge Wheels (Tubulars)

    2.  What category do you ride?
                35+ A's, raced Elite B's last year and decided upgrade

   3.  Highlight of this season....so far...
                Um, it's been a learning process.  No real highlights, but I'm learning
              how fast I need to be able to corner in order to hang on to a group that's
              really jamming.  Accelerations out of corners are just wicked every time.
              No real highlights though as far as results.

  4.  How often do you get out and ride?
             Twice outside, usually once or twice on the trainer or rollers in the garage.

  5.  Is this your first time being coached?  What do you think?
              Yes, it's been great.  I've never really trained before working with Brian
             last year.  My life is such that I don't have a lot of time to spend on
             the bike, and need to make the most of it.  I can stay motivated because I
             love racing, Brian has been able to provide the structure I need to
             optimize my time in the saddle.

  6.  Favorite pre race meal?
             Pasta the night before.  Usually buttermilk pancakes or waffles day of.

  7.  Favorite type of food?
             Burrito me.
  8.  Beer or wine or coffee?
            Coffee.
  9.  Coffee?  How do you take it?
            Short black and strong.

  10. Do you eat the stems of broccoli?
           Heck yeah, peel them, and add some salt or garlic salt, eat them raw.
         Super food.
  11. Favorite cross rider and why?
           Men-Bart Wellens...  He knows how to treat the hecklers that don't follow
         the code.  Pure badass.
         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=salfFYuinwY
          Women -KfC.  Nobody even close.  She'll get her rainbow one of these days.
        She deserves it.

 12. Favorite course you have ever ridden on and why? 
          Probably Golden Gate Park (RIP).  I like Singletrack oriented races where bobbles cost
        you.

 13. Disc or not?  In the future????
           OK, In my experience cross braking is not just limited to the brakes, it's
     also about traction.  Disks are great for the dry stuff where traction is
     good, but the current mechanical setups don't modulate as well as a set of
     canti's, so the advantages of braking power are lost when it gets sloppy.
     I know a lot of the top American men are running them, but the top Euros
     aren't.  I think that has to do with courses (the euro course tend to be
     sloppier earlier in the season).  I'm running Avid Shorty Ultimates, and
     have really never felt like I am being held back by braking.  Even riding
     single track.
       Also, if you've got one bike, and it's muddy, you're going to blow through
     a set of pads in 60 minutes of racing.  If you've got a pit bike and a
     mechanic to swap pads, you're stoked, but the rest of us should bear that
     in mind.
       My first CXish bike was a converted road bike (Kona Sutra) with BB7's, and
     I'm not ready to make the jump back to them right now...
     But, will I make the change in the future? Yeah probably, but I'll need to
     see a two things before I pay out for a new frame.
         1- reliable hydros.  fully integrated into the STI lever.
         2- longer wear pads for wet conditions.

Frtiz powering over the many bumps at BASP Candlestick 

Cornering on the hardpack...Superpretige Candlestick

The Roller Coaster

Up and down and whipping all around.  Sometimes you want to get back on the ride and other times you want to lose your lunch in a rusty old garbage can.  In the past couple weeks I have ridden the roller coaster of cyclocross.  The first ride was awesome.  The next ride I ended up in that garbage can.  Sometimes you need to know when to say when.  I didn't and paid the price.

I went back to Lembi Park in Folsom for some redemption of sorts.  I had a "rolling snowball" amount of bad luck there last year, ending up on the pavement with a jammed thumb and fair amount of road rash.  This year I wanted a redo.  So I headed up to Sac and lined up against some Berries and my Sac nemesis, Jeff Mitchell.  Jeff is the local and was leading the series.  I promised myself not to go out too fast and sure enough in the first turn I was dead last.

Soon enough I started to weave my way through the traffic and made it near the front.  Lembi is possible the best course in all of Norcal.  I wish more people came up to race it.  It has all the classic cyclocross feature - grass, off camber, road, mud (since it had just rained), run up and even a sand pit, which they put us through twice this year.  This course has lots of elevation and a great local crowd.  There were 4 of us after the first selection with this mountain biker taking massive pulls.  Jeff, Jon the Berry and I just tucked in.  By the 4th lap I knew we had to get rid of this mtb guy so I attacked.  Jon followed and then Jeff.  Mtber, gone.  As I was pulling all the air in Sacramento into my lungs, Jon attacked me.  Oh, I hated him.  I tried to follow, but to no avail.  Jeff went and I got dropped immediately.

So I was in no man's land just finishing up when I noticed the Mtber coming back. What?!  So I was determined not to let him pass me.  By the last lap this outright fear turned to elation as my efforts where pulling Jeff back closer to me.  I caught him after the sand pit, then attacked (like the crit rider I was) on the pavement where I crashed last year.  I held him off and by the end I was gassed.  Jon the Berry had won, but I had really dug deep on this one.

Into the sand pit with Jon M. in pursuit

The roller coaster was on a high that day.  It would all drop the next day as I tried to do the double and race Stafford Lake CX.  I had a feeling that I was not on top form and I should have listened to that feeling.  Murphy Mack set up a course with a few circus obstacles which I was not really pleased with - a 4 foot tall wall and a 4 foot deep pool of water.  Not really my idea of a CX course.  I was just about to pack up and leave when I heard that there was at least a bypass to the water pit.  Ok, I will race.

First half lap I felt good chasing the two more Berries - Brian F. And Gannon M.  But as the first lap came to a close I knew the engine room was losing power.  I should have stopped then, but I didn't.  I just had too much pride.  Well, that pride hurt me more than I thought because after the race the ball of my foot swelled like a softball.  I ended up having to stay off the bike for two weeks, go on prescription meds and lose a lot of fitness.  Point being...if you conscience says don't do something....don't!  And the roller coaster hits rock bottom....


Sunday, November 18, 2012

The Venue....

Not many cross racers really know what goes into putting on a race.  Yes, we volunteer, participate and sometimes talk to the promoters, but you don't really know until you jump in the trenches with (insert a city or county or some other governmental agency) and try to negotiate.  It all goes well until you tell them that you are going to be tearing up their beloved turf.  "Where is Fifi going to go number 2 or where will the drug dealers deal their drugs?"  Well, it is only for a day.  Can't they go somewhere else?

So we approached the city of Santa Rosa a few years ago with a proposal.  Give us this land because we want to make a cyclocross course.  I had teamed up with Carlos and his Bike Monkey crew to "up the ante" with Santa Rosa cyclocross.  Carlos had been running a group of races in city parks, but with the majority of races in December, January and February...well you get the idea.  They were great fun for participants, not so much for the people who used the park afterwards.  We needed a new plan.  When we asked the city to use some land in A Place to Play Park, they just said, "Yes, do whatever you want."  I literally fell over.  But then I realized that this park really was wasteland.  Really...A Place to Play Park was built on old wastewater ponds.

It didn't matter to me though.  I just wouldn't tell the racers.  So we went about forming a cyclocross park.  If you have ever been to the park or to a race there, you know that it is made up of two baseball fields and 6 soccer fields, but we couldn't use those, the grass was too nice.  So they gave us this scrub brush area and we made our own park.  With the help of Brian Neary landscape and his box scraper I formed the course over a couple days and then revamped it this year.  The clay-like dirt makes it a little worrisome for rainy days, which we have had both last year and this year for the second race at the park.  We like mud though, right?  Well, this mud eats derailleurs for breakfast.  8 to 10 last year and baker's dozen this year.

The first race of the Santa Rosa Cup was held at the park.  We had some rain a few days before the race, but by race day it was 80 degrees.  Typical October weather in California.  I decided to not only do all the set up and race directing (9 hours the day before and 10 hours the day of), but I was determined to race this year too.  So after all those hours I lined up next to a small group of 15 or so for the 35+ A's.  Local hardman Big Miguel Crawford took the whole shot and immediately drilled it.  Mig runs the chaos that is the Grasshopper races that are so popular in the Santa Rosa area.  I tucked in like a former crit rider and went for a ride.  By lap 2 he had dropped the field except for 4 of us.  Once there was a slowing that's when former pro rider Brian Finnerty (another Cal Giant Berry! Ugh...they keep propagating, like the berries themselves)  saw his chance and drilled it even farther.  Bye-bye Brian see you at the podium ceremony.

World Champion Don Myrah took it from there, dropping Big Mig for the remainder of the race, except for the last lap.  I could't believe it when Miguel punched it past us on really the only place on the course where you could pass.  Myrah and I tried to follow, but the heat was too much, by which I mean the pace, not the weather.  Finnerty had already accepted his bouquet by the time our panting tongues crossed the finish line.  Big Mig second and the Champion 3rd.  Me 4th. Another great race.... And it seemed like everybody else was having fun too!

It's all about marketing - CX Nation snow fencing at the Santa Rosa Cup

Chasing Myrah yet again...

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Traveling + Bike Racing = TOUGH

A little behind in the blog posts, so I am going to try for catch up.   I went out to the USGP in Ft. Collins, CO two weeks ago.  Not much racing was happening here and I wanted to get some points for Nationals.  At Nationals they line you up in the start grid based on the amount of points you get during the season.  Now don't ask me how this all works.  I have read US Cycling's explanation of it several times and I think I could explain cold fusion better.  The gist is that you have to do well in races where there are people who are rated better than you and these said races have to be US Cycling affiliated.  Most of the races in NorCal are not affiliated with US Cycling, so even though I am racing against 4 current or former national champions and a world champion each week, it doesn't count.  Not a great system.

The US Grand Prix of Cyclocross does count though.  They put on quite a show.  Great courses, lots of fans, food and of course beer.  I decided to enter 4 races in order to get my money's worth.  I planned on doing the 2/3 race and the Master's race both days.  I really had no idea what I was doing and as a coach I would have never recommended this to a client.  So why was I doing this?  Because I am crazy?  Oh yeah, for fun!

The first race was the 2/3 race on Saturday.  I got the great call up - second to the last row.  Oh well, time to start practicing my passing skills.  It had rained a little the night before so the ground was a little damp but dusty underneath.  The course ran down this hillside, going back and forth, up and down.  Lots of elevation and being at elevation it really hurt.  I only managed to get crashed into 3 times on the first lap.  And after pushing myself into the pain cave I ended up 37th out of 80 or so riders.  Not bad.  Best thing about these races is you get your lap times and mine were consistent with the Top 20 riders, so if I would have started up front...Hmmmmm  There is that start position I talked about in the last blog.

Next race was the exact opposite.  It started to rain really hard and by the time the Master's went off the course was totally different.  I decided to keep warm in the car instead of riding a warm up lap and that cost me.  Traveling with just one bike and no entourage of gear makes you decide to do some silly stuff.  Because of my "no pre-ride" I went to the line with my tires pumped waaaay to high.  I realized my mistake when I saw Greg Keller (Local Boulder hardman) in front of me and his rims were almost touching the ground when he sat on his bike.  I asked him after what he was running and it was like 24 and 22 psi.  I was embarrassed to say that I was about 10 psi higher.  He went to touch my tires to check and I wanted to just ride away.

So after about 4 crashes, a twisted shifter and a bruised ego, I headed out of there with my tail between my legs.  This guy however, won the race and started about 7 rows back. Then again, he is the reigning master's world champion.
Pete Webber celebrating.

The next day I just ended up doing more of the same thing in the 2/3 race.  I was tired.  the course was tacky and fast, but I just didn't have it.  Then I realized that I wouldn't make my flight if I did the Master's race, so I packed up and took off.  Nice planning on my part.  Greatest thing about the USGP had to be the WD 40 bike wash station. These guys basically took my bike, cleaned the whole thing and prepped it for the flight home.  Now that is pro.  Thanks to Brian Dallas the his whole crew.  Well, maybe the there was something better - waffle with banana and Nutella.  Yum!

Bottom line... unless you are pro, have a whole support staff or are rich - traveling and racing your bike can be difficult.  You have jet lag, elevation, crappy hotels, rolling bikes in airports, coach leg room, bad food, no food, bad start position, no trainer, no tent....it's a long list of excuses.  Feel free to use any of them when you don't do well in a race.  I'm going to.  BTW...I didn't get many points for Nationals and now it doesn't look like I am going, but who wants to race in Madison in January?  Brrr....

Thursday, October 11, 2012

The Start Grid....

     One of the biggest skills in cyclocross has nothing to do with actually riding your bike.  It has to do with getting to the start line before some other schmuck gets there.  In cyclocross you have to be loitering around the start line some 20 minutes before a race, if you don't have a call up.  Even if you think you have a call up you might want to get there before the sun comes up because the promoters might decide to change up their original plans at the last minute.

     It seems counterintuitive to do a really good warm up on a trainer, get a sweat going and then wait around for 20 minutes freezing your butt off or getting totally wet in the rain, but that is exactly what you have to do sometimes.  Last weekend at the Bay Area Superprestige at Candelstick Park was a prime example of start line madness.  Now I didn't see all the starts nor did I see the controversial B race start where a whole group of riders from one team just stepped in front of the entire field.  Bloggers, Yahoo groupies and people hiding behind their computers shamed them enough that I won't talk about it anymore.  I did get to see the madness of several of the other starts and it is amazing what a little testosterone can do to a simple jaunt in the park.  ROAR!

     The thing is....sometimes you get a good starting position and sometimes you don't.  I feel like I am a strong starter so it helps me when I am up front.  Then I just blow up like an atomic bomb and fade back.  Some people have bad starting position or a bad start, but then turn it on after 10 minutes or so.  And still others just start bad and end bad.  The most important thing is to go hard and race against yourself.  Pick off as many riders as you can without getting passed by the whole field and most of all, have fun.  Hearing all the news this week about the doping in cycling just leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth.  The best thing about cross is that we don't have to worry about this type of stuff. (My fingers were crossed when I typed this).  So go out there, try to get a good starting position. If you don't just work on your skills and run over as many slower riders as you can.  But do it with a smile on your face.

     I leave tomorrow for the USGP in Ft. Collins.  I am doing 4 races there.  Crazy? Oh yes, but if I am going to travel all that way I might as well hit it hard.  In each race I will be at least 5 or more rows back.  Not my usual position, but I am going ride till my heart explodes or I throw up, whichever comes first, and I will do it with a smile on my face.

Here is Scotty Chapin. He started on row 6 of the Elite race and came in 3rd place. 
Granted he has skills but.....

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Let the Games Begin...


First race of the season is always an interesting affair.  You leave the house with some butterflies and come home with open wounds.  In between there is lots of suffering, forgotten equipment and questions.  I have a list of things that I bring to a race.  Really pro you know.  I even laminated it.  The only problem is I never look at the list and then I forget a bunch of stuff.  It might take me a few weeks before I get it right; hopefully it will happen before the end of the season.

My first race was in the Sacramento series.  They keep it low key and fun, which is a  nice way to start the season, plus it was a new course so I had to check it out.  Held at Lagoon Valley Park in Vacaville this was going be typical early season California cross - hot and dry - very uncrosslike.  I set up the tent, which was needed in this heat and watched the chaos and suffering of the early races.  It is great seeing people that I haven't seen in at least a year and some others who were in my clinics, then there is coaching clients.  It's very social.  Unlike road racing we actually talk to other people at cross races.  It's a novel concept.  I just hope to remember everybody's name.

Pre-riding the course gave me my first "uh-oh" moment of the year.  There was a hill and I was way over geared with my 44 tooth single chain ring in the front.  Usually I will have my pit bike set up with a double chain ring for these such occasions.  But typical of early season follies I did not have the bike build up yet.  I had my mountain bike with me, but with the majority of the course being flat I chose not to use it.

The hill - looking calm but legs are screaming.

These races are 60 minutes long and I have always taken a water bottle.  Heat is never in short supply in Northern California.  I got the hole shot at the start and lead the way up the hill.  Grinding up to the top while other were spinning (I was cursing them) my lungs were on fire and it was only the first lap.  One guy passed me and just fired down the decent.  Wow, a little demoralized I just settled in and knew I wasn't going to catch him.  Then my nemesis Jeff Mitchell passed me like I was standing still and I knew my day was going to be about surviving.  Fast forward 60 minutes and the race was over.  That was the high point for me.  Chalk it up to a good training day and getting back into the swing of things.  Hopefully it turns around for me when we hit the confines of Candlestick Park next weekend. Come on legs...wake up!  BTW...still coughing up dust.  Winter can come at any time now.



Video of the first lap up the hill - feeling good but not for long.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Norcal vs. Socal - And the war continues.....

If you are not from California you are probably baffled by the war between the North and the South.  It's the Giants vs. Dodgers,  Rain vs. Sun,  Liberal vs Less Liberal.  They say "The" before saying the name of a freeway, i.e. "The 101" "The 5".  We don't.  That's just dumb.  We invented sourdough bread.  They invented liposuction.  We have the Grateful Dead, Sean Penn and the Golden Gate Bridge.  They have Snoop, lots in the State Pen and smog.  We both had the Raiders, so I guess that really doesn't work.  It's a war that will withstand the test of time.  Where Socal begins and Norcal ends has always been up for debate.  Some say San Luis, some say Monterey, some even say San Jose.  One thing is sure...Bakersfield is in Southern California.

B-town was where we gathered for the Norcal/Socal Cyclocross showdown.  I had heard lots of good stuff from some of the Rock Lobsters that rode in the Showdown last year.  Even though the season was pretty much over for me and I hadn't done an interval in a month, I went for it.  We arrived at our plush accommodations, Motel 6, on Friday night and settled into our rough surroundings.  The room was a haven for destruction.  Holes in the walls were filled but not painted, unless you consider "drywall patch white" a color.  The shower leaked all over the bathroom.  Black lighting the bedspread might have brought some other interesting finds, but we decided better to know nothing then find out everything.

Day 1 brought some rain during the night and very high winds.  I mean VERY HIGH WINDS.  40 plus mph.  No use setting up the team tent.  I got my bike up in the stand to do some work and that was when my day went bad to even worse.  My A-bike was in the stand and a gust of wind blew it over.  It took me a while to realize that the rear derailuer hanger was bent.  I didn't figure that out till after the race. I took the B-bike out for a lap and proceeded to get a flat front tire.  I just wanted to get this race over.  I started out well. Top 3 into the single track, but after a lap I just blew.  I didn't have a great warm-up and it was effecting me.  45 minutes later I was destroyed and finished up 6th.

After the race we cleaned up, went out for a great meal with the Socal teams at a brewery and we were back to hotel for some rest...or so we thought.  This Motel 6 started to get crazy.  I have stayed in Motel 6's for most of my life.  Cheap accommodations, numerous hotels all over the US and you always knew what you were getting - kind of like Starbucks.  This one was the worst.  They decided to power wash outside our door late in the afternoon.  Then during the night there was a fight right above us. Two guys fighting over payment to a prostitute.  Awesome.  I peered out the window and it looked like one of them had a gun.  Even better... "Hey guys, I am just here to wear some spandex and race my bike.  Can you keep it down?"

Day 2 got us away from our hotel in one piece and off to the race site.  The wind had died and it was pretty good cross weather.  The course changed, but still had this massive run up.  So steep that at the top you had to set your hand down to keep your balance.  Lots of Norcal heavy hitters showed up to race for one day.  I took it a little more serious this day, got a great warm-up and lined up feeling good.  I hung with Gannon Myall and Sam Ames (two heavy hitters) for a couple laps then got dropped.  I managed to rebound for a 4th place.  Overall Norcal won 11 out of 19 races.  A great showing by Norcal, although when the points were totaled Socal had more riders and won the team event.  I was so excited about racing that I can't wait till next year!
The start - 4th inline

The Podium - 3 Norcal, 2 Socal