You gotta love these types. A little more speed and they might have made it to Wal-Mart. Turn your speakers down, way down.
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I never got around to writing a recap of the 11/11/07 Sylmar race. In a nut shell the course was sweet with climbing, grass,
The 11/4/07 race was near Ojai, CA. This course was very nice. Mostly flat with lots of turns and a deep grass section. I ended up 12th in this race. I was about 1/2 a lap down from the leaders which is a huge improvement over last year so I wasn’t too chapped.
The race before Thanksgiving was part of the Urban Cyclocross Series. Unfortunately I got a mean case of the shits after going to Chipotle in Palmdale so I missed the race. Crap!
I hauled the family up to the Bay Area for Thanksgiving at my dad’s house. That was a great time. The race in Golden Gate Park wasn’t so nice to me. I raced up a level in the 35+B category and got slaughtered. My pre-race prep the 4 days before the race consisted of beer, food, wine, beer, food, wine, beer, wine, food, and no riding. That doesn’t work. The BASP series has large fields plus this was their championship race so it was very well attended. Maybe next year I can make it happen.
The next event for me was the SoCal District Championship in Bakersfield. The Hart Park course was brutal. Featuring two run-ups, one on dirt, and one long long long grass run, the course was a challenge for everyone. The long fast straightaway allowed me to maintain some sort of speed but I was quickly dropped by the fast riders of the day. Since this was a championship race categories are not a criteria for entering, it goes by age. I went for the Master 40-44 category. A whole 6 riders were in the group. Not really what I had hoped for but what are you gonna do? Two guys dropped out with flats so I ended up 4th. Cool! I scored a pair of Cannondale winter socks.
I made the drive back out to Hart Park on Sunday for the 35+ 3/4 race and for my first race on my new Bianchi San Jose. In the 35+ 3/4 race I changed my usual “attack early” strategy and went for a conservative spot near the front runners at the start. I tried to stay focused on not blowing up but maintaining contact with guys that normally drop me towards the end of the race. As the race wound down I was going at it with Jeff Goble. He was catching me consistently on the grass run-up. I attacked him (sounds good doesn’t it?) and dropped him with 2 to go. While we were trading places David Rous got by both of us. I got on his wheel at stayed with him but he crushed my on the grass run-up. I ended up with a 5th place finish ahead of Jeff Goble and my buddy Tak Tsubota. Those two guys have beat me in every race we competed in together this year. After the race I went over to my car and rehydrated and ate in anticipation of the singlespeed race at 12:27. There were a total of 7 SS’ers at the starting line. Again, I hoped for more racers. As the race got underway Miguel Sutter jumped to an early lead. I wasn’t having any trouble staying in contact with him until he put on the heat about 1/4 of the way into the first lap. I quickly decided it would be foolish to go at his pace. Jeff Goble was with me again so we rode together in 2nd and 3rd for several laps. I was feeling great at this point of the race so I chose to conserve some energy in a valiant attempt at dropping Jeff later in the race. Dave Sheek was rapidly gaining on both of us and went flying by near the double barrier on the flat area near the pits. He was going too fast for me so I maintained my pace with Jeff. Once again Jeff was putting the pain on me during the grass run-up. I knew that if I could get a small lead on him it would be possible to have him pass me on the last grass run-up and then I could chase him down on the long straight to the finish line. With 2 laps to go I attacked (ooh! sounds aggressive!) on a slight incline before the steep dirt run-up. After the run-up there was a long flat section that gave me the chance to really get a gap going. I knew I had a bigger gear than Jeff so I took advantage of that and went all out in an attempt to get away. Just as I planned I was leaving Jeff behind but not by enough. As we got to the grass run-up he caught me and went by. I ran as hard as I could and tried to limit my losses. As he hit the pavement to the straightaway he had gapped me and I couldn’t chase him down. I ended up 4th but due to Dave Sheek changing a flat outside of the pit area Jeff and I were moved up to 2nd and 3rd. Finally, after almost 3 years of racing and suffering, I made it onto the podium. The last time I stood up for an award was during the Sea Otter Classic at the Hellyer Velodrome. I got 3rd in a cat 3 race that day in 1998(or was it 97?). 9 years ago! Damn! I ended up with all kinds of schwag. My kids were all over the case of Clif Bars I brought home. Next up is the Storm The Beach race which I can’t make it to. I will make it to the next Urban Series race in Irvine and the Santa Cross race in Woodland Hills to wrap up the series. Be there if you can!
Oh, and I met Robin MacDonald-Foley and had a good chat with her. It’s a long story about how we came together at the race. If you want to know about it hit me up at the next race! Hint – it’s a small world.