Race Report: 2003 Sacramento CX #6

I skipped race number five for a number of reasons. First and foremost, my son was born only two days before the race, and he played hard to get. It was a long, long labor and ultimately he had to come into this world via C-section. All is well, though.

Two, Grass Valley is quite a drive from my home. And three, we get to drop a couple races, so I thought it was no big deal to drop race five. In hindsight, just like last year, that wasn't a great decision.

Race six was again at Granite Bay. I rode a good but not great race. When it was clear I wasn't going to be a factor, I buried myself on the last road section into a fierce headwind to set up Gordon. We blasted by a couple guys on the last lap and he came off my wheel to coast in for fifth. I never recovered from that effort but managed to hold on for sixth and scored a few points for the overall.

I go way back with some of these guys. Dave Burke is a current Rio teammate, but we go back to the '80s with ABC (Anonymous Bike Club). Craig Petersen was also an ABC guy. Don Metzger rides single speeds with us old ABC guys, and he is also attending our Rio Strada training rides on cross bikes. He is strong and getting stronger each week.

Later.

Punch Drunk

I have been a father for a week. Mom and son are doing great. It's been a whirlwind of a week filled with joy, but not without a little stress and fatigue. He's a good little sleeper so far, but that doesn't mean we rest easy. I am sleeping with one eye open because of the newness of everything, and I have never slept that well in the first place. The likelihood of a saber-toothed cat attack in the night is pretty low, but that doesn't mean in the deepest primal recesses of our brains, fathers aren't always preparing for it.

I slipped out for my first mountain bike ride today as a dad, just my standard loop out at Salmon Falls. If it's possible to feel completely drained and yet super strong at the same time, today I achieved that. Dad power.

As I said, a mostly joyous week.

 

But not without a little stress.

Saber-toothed cats beware.

Later.

Race Report: 2003 Sacramento CX #4

Race number four took place at Negro Bar. This course typically uses some grass. Like sand, it seems to be tougher for the skinny guys.

This was a pretty flat course with a bit of running and I struggled with it.

Truthfully this one is a bit of a blur. My mind was definitely elsewhere (we have a baby due in a few days) and I pretty much just rode in circles and suffered.

I ended up 10th, which was good for one whole point in the standings.

Later.

Race Report: 2003 Sacramento CX #3

Race three took place out at Folsom Point, a venue that I really like due to the hills. As luck would have it, I had my climbing legs, so I didn't even have to use my AK. I gotta say it was a good day.

The course was the hardest I have done yet: 1.4 miles, very hilly, rough, rocky and technical, with little running. All of this was to my advantage as a mountain biker.

After poor starts in my two previous races, I decided to make a point of getting out fast. We would start at the very bottom of the boat ramp and ride up the long asphalt climb before turning left onto dirt and going down a bit before continuing to climb more. I took a spot a few rows back from the front and waited for the gun. We started and within a few pedal strokes I found a gap and made my way towards the front. Suddenly there were only two guys in front of me. I thought, hell, I'm going to try getting to the corner first so I can go down the hill dust free. And within a few more strokes I was on the front. It seemed too easy. I looked behind me to see a gap. I figured, well, might as well grab the first lap prime.

We turned onto the dirt and I rode a strong but not hard tempo all the way to the finish where I did indeed grab the $10 prime. It kind of cost me on the next couple of laps, where a few guys passed me. I backed off the gas just a bit and kept going.

Lapping Gordon, who would DNF.

For a couple laps nothing really happened. I hovered around 6th to 8th place. I was cruising along in my own world, not really racing so much as riding.

As guys started getting tired they were crashing and making mistakes. I just tried to ride hard but under control, and I started reeling them in.

Doing a decent job on the barriers.

On the bell lap, I had two guys within striking distance, so I just put my head down and went after them. I caught them about halfway through the last lap, rested for a few seconds, and then attacked with everything I had up a hill. I got a five-second gap and held it all the way to the finish for second place.

My man Curtis took 11th.

The payday was not too bad. Along with the $10 prime, I was awarded a water bottle, arm warmers, leg warmers, socks and a nice bottle of locally produced olive oil.

With nine points for second, I am sitting at second overall behind Gordon and back in the thick of the series.

It's always nice to get a shout-out from a teammate:

Later.

Race Report: 2003 Sacramento CX #2

Granite Bay was again the venue for race number two, but this time on the north course. This typically entails a lot of riding and running through sand, which I suck at, and today had plenty of sand. And I unsurprisingly sucked.

Dismounts are not my strong suit and today there were many. Riding in sand is tough for me as a skinny guy, and we had that. Running is by far my weakest skill, and we had two different running sections in deep sand.

That's me in the lower left watching the big guys power away from me.

It was a struggle from start to finish. I couldn't get going, couldn't maintain momentum, and there were no hills to speak of for me to make up time. Every time I even began to feel strong there was another section of sand to run.

Here's Rio teammate Curtis also struggling.

In the end I took a very disappointing 13th place. Gordon again won while Alex took fourth. Curtis finished right behind me in 14th.

I have some work to do to get back in this series. We have a break in the schedule, so hopefully I can start peaking and work on my technique.

Later.

Race Report: 2003 Sacramento CX #1

Race number one of the 2003 series was a great one. The Granite Bay south course has been good to me, and today was no exception. My buddy Steve came out to watch and manned the camera. After the race he assured me that he took lots of "sweet pics," but this was the only one on the camera:

Sweet, indeed. Not sure what button he was pushing, but it obviously wasn't the shutter.

After taking second in the series last year in the Cs, behind Alex, this year we both moved up to the 35+ B class.

Race wise, I took off and hovered around second to fifth place most of the race, ultimately taking third at the end. Gordon won and Alex took sixth. It was nice to grab eight points right off the bat. Hoping for a solid race number two next week.

Later.

Ready?

The first cross race of the season is tomorrow. I think I have prepared as best I can considering all the recent life changes.

So far I have commuted home five times this month, which is my main training tool right now. Do difficult 35-mile rides with tons of climbing translate to success in 45-minute cyclocross races? Time will tell.

Today I did 20 miles on the bike trail with a few hard efforts on dirt and gravel trails just to get the feel of going fast on different surfaces.

Tomorrow should be fun. My buddy Steve is coming, so that's always great motivation for me.

Later.