The morning was clear and the wind was relatively calm as the third race of the SoCalCross Prestige Series got underway at the Hansen Dam Recreation Center On Saturday, October 20.
I volunteered to help set up the course on Saturday. I highly recommend helping out if you can. Seeing the race course set up in action gives you a new appreciation for the hard work and dedication that is involved in setting up and running a race. There were many people helping which was a good thing. At one point we pounded a stake too close to a hornet nest and I got stung in the head and ankle at the same time. A Bear Claw team member got stung in the chest. We immediately left the area and let the hornets alone.
The course was set up and ready for race action on time. We set up cones, tape, stakes, and delineators all over the park. It was a great team effort that pulled off the set up. I will definitely help again!
Onto the race action! I signed myself up for the Mens 35+ 3/4 race. I managed to get pretty warmed up during the set up of the course as predicted by Dorothy!
We lined up and got instructions from the UCI commissar. An interesting item he mentioned was no water or feed hand ups. I thought this was a normal deal. Since I had no supporters at the race I carried a water bottle in my jersey pocket with my usual recipe. At the sound of the whistle we were underway. I jumped off the line hard, but not too hard. I gauged the effort of the field and a few guys were pressing the issue. I shifted up a gear and hammered it. I could hear the announcer say that there was no clear holeshot going down as we sped towards the grassy climb. I stayed on the gas and held my line. At that instant I was in the lead and I maintained the position until the very top of the climb as we bumped towards the grassy descent. As usual I got passed by one, then two riders. As we made our way through the course I was feeling ok until we hit the flat grass area near the hornet zone. The course did not traverse the hornet area but it did go over very bumpy grass. I got passed again by a couple guys. At this point I settled into my rhythm and felt ok. One highlight was the short steep run-up after the long paved section. This run-up was steep, really steep. Feeling inspired by elite racers I saw last year I went for it every lap 100% determined to ride up the climb. The first 2 laps failed. And on the 3rd lap I made it, I actually climbed the run-up! Every other lap after that failed near the top and I had to dismount. Feeling a little fried I kept flogging and eventually got passed by Tak and another racer. I dug down deep and couldn’t quite catch Tak but I did catch and pass the guy chasing him at the finish. I ended up 11th out of 14. My goal was achieved, I did not get lapped.
I encourage everyone to get involved and help out. Even if it’s just a little bit of time it really does go a long way towards the success of cyclocross in SoCal! See you all at the races!
