The Final Finale

The season for me came down to this....BASP #4 at Coyote Point.  No Natz or Worlds for me this year.  Has anyone heard that we are in a depression?  Have you seen how much Worlds is?  You have to get a UCI license ($100), fly to Kentucky, hotel, monster car to fit the bikes, tons of food...and you might not even get to race the "real" race.  If your group is too big you have to go in heats and qualify. I'm passing this year.  I am going to have to save all my pennies and skim off my daughter's college fund to get there next year.  Just kidding I am not going to save pennies.

So this was it.  A favorite course for me.  Lots of power stuff on this course - hill, sand and now this year a gravel pit.  Good for me.  After riding the last lap at Sacramento the week before with two shredded side walls I was out of tires.  Well, actually I did have two new Dugast tires hanging in the garage, but I wasn't about to slap them on for one race.  I did manage to convince the local bike shop to let me "demo" a couple pairs of the new Specialized tubulars. In this case "demo" wasn't supposed to me demolition.

Not sure the names of the tires, but one was for mud and other was for California.  For some reason I chose mud for the BASP finale.  There was no mud. Go figure.  I got a 2nd row call up.  My strategy was to go as hard as I can, blow up and try to survive to the finish without getting passed by too many people.  It started out promising.  I charged up the hill locking into 5 place.  But then Don Myrah proceeded to unclip causing me to crash into his calf.  I practically stopped and then had to get rolling.  Back into the pack.  Time to start scrapping.   Unfortunately I fell into place behind roadie-turned-part time crosser, Jesse Moore.  I really respect Jesse for his road skills, but he is not good on the dirt especially on the downhill.  If I had ever ridden with Jesse before I would have made the reckless pass like Don Myrah did.  I didn't and suffered for it.

Chasing on.....

By the end of the first lap I had totally burned all my matches, but had made it onto the first chase group. Then, misfortune struck me for the first time of the year.  I flatted that "demo" tire on the uphill, halfway to the pits.  I rode that thing, slipping and sliding all over the place, for half a lap.  After getting my pit bike I put myself in the "red" over and over again, but just couldn't catch the lead group.  I did manage to chop a Clif Bar rider in the sand.  He was in front and I was behind him.  He took the wide line around a corner in the sand because he was riding it.  I took the inside line and swung my bike near him.  That messed up his rhythm and he fell off.  Sorry Clif guy.  I am usually not that type of rider, but this day was not getting better.  BTW...I chose not to ride the sand trap, but run it...like this.

The beach...with angry Clif guy behind me

And the remount....

I did ride myself back into a respectable 9th place and an end to a successful season.  Next year upgrade to Cat 1, Natz, Worlds and basically do it all.  See you then!

Popping the cork

I have been really enjoying visiting some new venues in Northern California cyclocross this year.  The Sacramento series has usually been my destination.  I headed up to Lodi this past weekend for a race at a winery. What ?  A winery you say?  This can't get any better, can it?  Oh yes it can.....

The wind was howling as I drove up and it was even worse out on course.  I had heard that this course has been used for 3 years and every year it rained inches of the wet stuff.  I could even see the hardened tracks from last years race.  Made for some interesting riding.  My hand was still bothering me and on these bumpy courses it hurts even worse; at least until the adrenaline beats the pain down.

My plan was to draft as much as possible, ala road racing, and then see what happens.  There was quite a large group at the start and I couldn't resist.  I went right to the front to try and get a separation on the first couple laps. I went as hard as I could for two laps, then looked around and there were 4 of us left.  I pulled back to take a breather and by the 3rd lap we were lapping some of the A's.  We were flying.  But then the problems started happening for me.  A lapped rider almost took two of us down and there was the separation for the front two, who just happened to be the two series leaders. Ugh....

I forced my fellow chasers to the front as much as possible until he cramped on the barriers.  That's when I took off in pursuit.  Suddenly I saw one of the leaders off the back, Jude.  He was slowing down and didn't look in good shape.  I told him to slow up and we could catch Jeff Mitchell who was the leader.  Jude thankfully obliged because I was getting tired of chasing him.  Once I went to the front though he fell off the back.  Turns out he crashed and his brake was rubbing.  Then, I noticed Jeff was slowing down too.

The top of the ramp where the trucks dump their grapes

With 3 to go I caught him and like the others, forced him to the front on the headwind sections.  The last section was a paved straightaway onto a steep ramp where the wine trucks dump their grapes.  Pretty cool finish.  I punched it, almost swung too wide, almost hit a pedal, almost hit a pylon, almost, almost, almost...but not quite.  Hit the finish line and saluted the sky.  Beat Jeff in a sprint again.  Almost never happens in cyclocross but has now happened two races in a row.  Great racing with him.  They gave us 3 bottles of wine for winning.  That's how you justify this type of racing to wifey, especially if she loves wine!

The podium at Lange Twins Winery - wine for the winners!

GGP - Shaken, not stirred

If you don't know what GGP is you must not be from NorCal.  That's Golden Gate Park man.  Last weekend I was down for the debauchery of the Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships.  I am not a single speeder, but that whole thing was beyond crazy. I didn't race because my Speedo was at the cleaners, but this week the "normal" people showed up at GGP to battle it out in the Bay Area Superprestige.

I got called up second row this week. They changed the course a little this year.  The rain made it tacky and this course us usually up and down, and up and down.  Hard one.  The start has been an uphill one in the past but this year we started at the top of the hill, which is where I made my first mistake.  I was in the wrong gear, so when the gun went off I spun too fast and missed clipped.  Then, I panicked because I had to try and catch the lead group.  I burned a ton of matches, but finally caught them on the steep hill before the start/finish.  Unfortunately one guy in the lead group botched the climb and there was separation.  That's all it takes.  Four of us were suddenly "the chase group".

The agony of the hill

The four of us rode hard for several laps.  There was a downhill barrier that some were hopping over and I had to run.  My hopping skills aren't the best and it is my priority to work on it for next year. I am not sure 40 year olds should be jumping barriers.  We'll see how that progresses.  I was losing time every time we went through the downhill barrier.  I hung tight until we hit a stretch of pavement and I went down.  I was more shocked than anything. It seemed like I slid forever.  More guys passed me and now my day went from bad to worse. I managed to pull my carcass off the ground.  Nothing was hurt too bad, just some road rash.  I thought roadies got road rash?  Lame....  I managed to drag myself to the finish line for 13th.  My worst finish of the season.  But now I am fired up for the last race of the BASP. My favorite course with just one steep kicker of a hill which I can just power over.  Can't wait....

This hill isn't getting any easier...

Welcome to Bumpville

New course and no expectations brought me to Ione for Round 6 of the Sacramento race series.  Ione is actually nowhere near Sacramento.  It's a small town in the Sierra foothills that just happens to be near where my parents live.  What a great opportunity to have a visit with the elders and get some VO2 max suffering in.  My wrist and thumb are still hurting from my crash two weeks previous, but I have been pushing through it.  I am not sure it will even be healed in 6 months, so why rest it now.  The only thing that would prevent me from riding would be a cast...or would it?

The first thing I heard when I got to the venue was, "Man, this course is bumpy."  Not good when you can barely grip the handlebars.  But I had devised a plan.  Riding in the drops felt better than on the hoods so I was going to ride it like a crit.  Low turnout for the 35+ A's.  Only 3 guys in the field!  Possibly the lowest I have ever raced.  But Jeff Mitchell, the series leader, was there and we have had some battles in the past.  I couldn't wait to get it on.

Off we went and after a half of a lap Jeff and I were on our own.  The course was like being in a pinball machine.  We were getting kicked and punched all around this course.  There were some flat, fast sections and some technical turns through trees and such.  Overall a fun one.  The one thing that I was not really happy about was the "downhill dismount over a log".  Race promoters, please don't include downhill dismounts in your courses.  They are unsafe and there is a reason that the UCI forbids them.  Ok, off the soapbox.

Jeff and I just traded off leading laps.  I was trying to figure out where I could take it to him.  Seemed like he was better in the turns and I was faster in the straights.  So we had some cat and mouse attacks to see if we could crack one another.  We couldn't.  Jeff had a dig on the last lap, but I easily got on his wheel and tried to catch a draft.  It was all going to come down to the bitter end.  There was a long dirt straightaway before the finish.  I caught a little draft coming into it and then came around Jeff at the last second and won with a bike throw.  It was like a crit.  A great hour of racing and like I always say, "Just because there were low numbers at a race doesn't mean you don't deserve the win.  You beat all the people that didn't even show up."

Saturday Night Lights

Yeah, I know it is supposed to be "Friday Night Lights", but this was on Saturday night.  The promoters have moved the times around a bit in the last few years.  This year the Master's A's started at 7pm and it was dark.  Not very dark, but it was hard to see the best lines in some of the turns.  That made it challenging. Got a call up from the last race.  6th places on the front row...and I was #6.

All smiles before the suffering.

Being on the front really helps in these races.  Chaos usually ensues very closely around the first turns.  This race was not an exception to that rule.  A long paved stretch lead to a curb that had sandbags for a ramp.  The pavement is long enough so you can get enough speed to really hurt yourself on the curb jump.  Amazingly no one went down on the first turn...but the second turn caused some grief.  Some guy came flying recklessly around a bunch of us.  I was sitting about 5th or 6th.  On the second turn there has always been a metal plate.  It was there again and this guy slipped on the black ice.  He didn't take anyone out, except himself, but that was all Coates and Swanson needed to get away.  The chase was on.

I managed to get up to them after bursting both my lungs. But I couldn't hold on.  I popped and got into a chase group with 5 others.  One being national champ Don Myrah.  We traded pulls for a few laps and tried in vain to bring anyone back.  Don wasn't riding as smoothly as he has in the past.  He was all over the place.  Not really sure what was going on him.  The other 3 sat in for a while.  Then, this guy named Reno Jude took off and had a dig.  My jaw dropped as he dropped us all.  I couldn't believe.  I have raced with him in Sac and he has a huge engine.  Not in the greatest shape, but is the Energizer bunny.

Eventually I got dropped by Don and a Pen Velo fella.  I was with Eric Bustos from Giant berries.  On the last lap Don and Velo actually got tangled up in one another and crashed hard.  We came in pretty hot and I was kicking myself because I wasn't aggressive enough.  But they were having a yard sale all over the course.  I couldn't get around them.  So then we were all together for a "bunch" sprint for the finish.  I ended up 3rd in the sprint and should have been 8th, but I guess they got me in 9th.  Lesson: always check the results.  Not like it matters, except for placement in the next race.

For a bumpy course with lots of turns I had a pretty good go at it.  Only getting stronger as the year continues.  Problem is the season will be over right when I hit my stride.  Still some fun races to though.

One of the best parts of the night was seeing one of my coaching clients score a 5th place in the B's race, which had 92 people in it.  My other client finished his first race of the season a couple weeks ago in last.  This last one he got 50th out of 75 people.  Improvement....that's awesome.

Below are a couple "artsy" photos of me.  One taken a couple weeks ago by Brent the Elder at Candlestick Park.  The other was a mistake when I was putting the iPhone back into my pocket.  Artistic, I know.  Lots of talent here.

Hardest Ever???

I made the pilgrimage down to the land of the Banana Slugs and my old alma mater, UC of the Santa Cruz this weekend.  Ten years in one town is quite a long time and I thoroughly enjoyed my time in da Cruz.  This is truly the land of cyclocross.  The surrounding hills and bluffs contain soft sandy soil that is perfect for your cross bike.  Yeah, mountain bikes work there, but the cross bike is so versatile.  Besides the Godfather of cross bikes sculpts his masterpieces there - Paul Sadoff of Rock Lobster.

I had always wanted a Rock Lobster bike.  I remember catching a glimpse of one in the late 80's.  Custom bike? What is that?  And green too?  Way cool.  So last year I approached Paul about joining one of the most prolific cross teams in the nation.  Paul's sole focus is on cross and he produces.  So yeah, I was going to Santa Cruz last weekend to race and re-live old memories of college (well not all of those memories), but the real reason was to pay my homage to the Godfather.

I raced an occasional Surf City race before, but never at Aptos High School.  After taking a warm-up lap I determined that this course was the hardest I had ever been on.  Now I haven't been doing this for 20 years, but I have ridden my fair share of race courses around the country.  I heard someone say there was 200 feet of climbing on each lap.  Not a ton for a roadie, but it is quite a bit for this linebacker.

I started in the back, then made my way further back on the first climb.  There were some great winding turns on the way down the mountain, a few crashes, lots of sand (which I love) and then turn around and go back uphill.  Boooo.  On the way down and up, there was a telephone pole across the road.  My mountain bike skills are Beanie Wells, not Todd Wells.  I couldn't jump on the way down and when I tried to jump it on the way up....over the handlebars.  What!  I jumped it in warm-ups.  More uphill and I was just cruising to survive.  Then, some more uphill.  Okay I've had enough.  Tried to ride this stair section and crashed.  Then, for some strange reason or twist, there was more uphill.  Are you seeing a theme here?  And then it ended, thankfully.  Oh the agony!

Hey, look at me.  I'm actually going downhill.

Back to the Stick

For those that don't know...I'm talking about Candlestick Park.  Well, I guess officially it would be Candlestick Point.  After a couple year hiatus the BASP was allowed back to the park.  

CX Nation at the Stick

It was good to see that BASP didn't pack it in after last year.  Now they are back for 4 races with the first one last Sunday at the Stick.  They course was a similar layout to years ago with a little twist - The Go Pro Flyover.  After a couple years of trying the fellas at BASP rolled out the flyover - run up the stairs on one side and ride down the other.  Then, you get to ride underneath it.  Euro class....

Good warm-up, watched one of my athletes race and then lined up on the front row of the Master's A's race.  This year I have had some early success, but the BASP is really where all the great riders in the Bay Area come out to play.  3 National champs in the front row and 3 "not" National Champs. I was one of the "nots".  Doesn't matter though.  I was going out hard.

Brock Dickie got a great jump, along with Coats; but I was right on their wheel.  On the second turn Coats went in hot and crashed into a pole.  Amazingly we avoided him and then he got ride back up and was right there with us.  I heard there was a crash behind us and after the first lap the three of us had a huge lead.  Coats went to the front and started drilling it.  I tried my best to just hang on, but by the end of the second lap I was off the back.  Myrah passed me going Mach 10 at the end of the second lap.  Then, came Hoefner.  Each time I tried to latch on, but got popped off each time.  

So I was sitting fourth and eating tons of dirt.  The course was very bumpy and I lowered the pressure in my tires down after a pre-ride.  Because of this I really had to pay attention in the turns.  Getting squirrly, look out.  Hoefner broke his seat, so now I was sitting 4th in the race.  Murray Swanson of Pen Velo got past me and I was starting to get pissed.  When will people stop passing me? Come on, stop it!

At this point I was looking behind me.  Always a bad thing to do.  I saw Hoefner and his teammate Jon Mundelius charging hard.  They were actually drafting each other and pulling me back.  Ugh..I thought this was cross and not road racing.  How could they?  Eventually Jon caught me and we battled for a couple laps.

He ended up dropping me on the last lap and I finished gasping for air in the 6th place.  You would have thought that the air would be moist when riding next to the SF Bay.  Not the case....  So all and all a pretty good race for me.  I finished a little higher than last year and I will only get stronger as the season progresses. Hopefully the rest of these guys get weaker.