I made the drive up towards Bend from SoCal 6 days before race action started. It’s 808 miles one way so I broke the trip up into 3 segments. First we drove to Manteca on Saturday 12/5 for an overnighter at my dad’s house. Then on Sunday 12/6 we drove to Chico for a lunch break with Paul Chestnut and his wife Julie at the Sierra Nevada Brewery. We hung around and went on the tour and learned a little bit about the history of Sierra Nevada. We stayed with the in-laws until Tuesday 12/8 and then made the final push to Bend. We got up there around 4:00pm and it was cold. About 15 degs. F. Once the sun went down it dropped to -5 deg. F. Jeez! I’ve never felt cold like that. Our pre-trip clothing prep paid off. We were all warm!
I raced the 40+B Men on Thursday and finished 68th out of 160+. My goal was to finish in the top 50%. When it was done I was 42%. At the start I passed at least 30 racers instantly as a few piled it up in the left hander that narrowed quickly. Once I saw the pile up starting I stayed way over to the right and found a gap and shot through it. I was hit, bumped, rode into, and generally knocked around on the first lap. The frantic riding and snow and ice made it wild. A few times I went off the race line and hammered through bumpy snow to get ahead a few spots. Once I was out of traffic I started to catch a few people and get caught by others. On lap 3 or 4 I flatted! No!!! Fortunately I was just coming onto the pavement and made it to the pit to swap bikes. I lost a few spots while getting my SS going. The lack of space in the car prevented me from bringing my usual backup bike. The SS gearing couldn’t compete with the geared bikes so I started slipping back in the field. Then all hell broke loose. The sun was way down on the horizon and the course started to freeze up. Crashes were happening everywhere. Even on the straight snowy parts! I fell 6 times in several places around the course. I stayed focused and really tried to keep it going but the fatigue was kicking in and the lack of top speed was an issue and I got caught by the leader with one to go. All in all it was an excellent race for me. The technical aspect was awesome. I love technical courses over fitness courses. On a sad note my racing buddy Jeff “Gobes” Goble crashed and broke his leg really bad. He had to have surgery in Bend to repair the damage. Let’s hope he has a speedy recovery and gets back to riding soon.
I also raced the SS race on Friday and had similar results and only fell 3 times! 70th out of 120+. Huge SS field. Good times!
I scoured the web and found a ton of stuff from the event. Enjoy!
Huge gallery on Flickr from WongWongWay – Nationals – pix and video
Huge gallery on Flickr from DaveandDino – Nationals – hundreds of photos!
SingleSpeed Crashes!
Click for the carnage
Photo: Amanda Schaper via Facebook – The SoCal racers that raced at the nationals. Most are a here.
Photo: DaveandDino via Flickr
Photo: DaveandDino
Photo: Buy This Print! Used with permission -PDXCross.com
Photo: Buy This Print! Used with permission -PDXCross.com
Singlespeed 12/11/09
Singlespeed 12/11/09 CARNAGE!
Start – Men 40+ B 12/10/09
Lap 1 – Men 40+ B 12/10/09
Lap 2 – Men 40+ B 12/10/09
First Turn – start of Men 40+ B 12/10/09
National Cyclocross Championship 2009 Men 40+ B Start from Dale Riley on Vimeo.
Carnage – 40+ B race
Bend Boo-Boo – Crash in 40+ B race from Dale Riley on Vimeo.
