I finished up a grueling cyclocross season on 1/19/08. That was my 20th race since 9/30/07. I finished a 8th in the Singlespeed B category. I had a good start and was feeling good. My bike however was slightly under-geared so the long long paved section was proving to be a challenge. I gambled and went easy on the gear since I paid the price by going too big in Palos Verdes. After the start and into the first lap I was in 6th place for a bit not far off the pace and was rolling good. My friend Geoff passed me and held on to the 6th spot for several laps. I just couldn’t get up to him. My new friend Barry was not going away. I tried a few attacks and I couldn’t shake him. In the meantime my bud Todd went hauling around both of us and took over the chase but it didn’t last long. In the confusing switchbacks thru the grass area he went straight instead of making a right turn. I saw the error and made a hard right to stay on course. The tape in this area was at a head-high level making it very easy to go the wrong way. I was spinning out every lap near the end of the straight. I was constantly marked by a chaser. This was tough since I couldn’t attack him and get away. We caught and passed Gobes with about 2 to go. In the meantime Frank the Fisherman was reeling me and Barry in, again! He did the same thing to me twice this year. I could sense that Barry was content letting me set the pace so I backed off on the last lap and Frank caught us. I tried to gap both of them in the grass but my low gear wasn’t enough to make a difference. Coming onto the last straight I swung out and let them go by. Barry made a race out of it and Frank chased him to the line. I was spinning like a sewing machine and I couldn’t keep up. I ended up 8th and got enough points to finish off the series in 6th place – just out of 5th by 1 point. I didn’t contest 2 SS races in the this series and that made a difference. With a good solid finish in those races I could have gotten 3rd over all perhaps. My goal was top 5 so 6th is great for me. You can bet I will be back next year in the SingleSpeed A group slicing and dicing. I can’t wait!
