cxsr #1

This post also appears on the Crossniacs team blog.

Man, the Bike Monkey crew in Santa Rosa knows how to put on a race! The course was super flat and super short and, other than two single-bike-wide bridges and a gnarly tree root, was a straight-up DRAG RACE which totally played to my strengths. I got a decent start just hammered, hammered, hammered for 15(!) laps… and did great! I finished 8th/38 and was the last rider to stay on the lead lap. I celebrated afterward with a beer and a brat, as usual. I guess the trick now is to get that same performance in fields three times as large, like they are at the BASP races. None of the fields were very big and the course wasn’t particularly challenging, but everyone was stoked to race and had a great time.

CXSR (and also Livermore) might not have the flash and prestige of the bigger series in the region, but they are invaluable for racers looking to pick up extra starts and work on the race fitness. Another advantage of having these “feeder” series around is that they almost double the length of the racing season out here. The bulk of the racing naturally runs from October through December just like everywhere else, but when you tack on Livermore, which starts in early September, and CXSR, who hold their last race in mid-February, you get a regional cross calendar that is nearly six months long! Needless to say, I feel very lucky be racing in a region that offers so many opportunities to compete. The only downside is that I usually run out of steam before the race calendar does! I'm trying to work on that, though.

AV Club: The root claims a victim!

good job, moonies

Courtesy of Lee
Originally uploaded by tedketai

remember that thing I said back in february?

You remember, that.

Looks like I was a lot closer to being right than I thought, unfortunately.

According to Intervíu, police evidence revealed that Rock Racing's Francisco Mancebo also maintained a relationship with Losa. In a reported exchange between Losa and Mancebo, Mancebo sent a text message dated Jan. 28 to Losa: “Call me to eat one day and bring me something … we have a crisis.” To which Losa responds, “Ja, ja … whenever you want.” A few days later, Mancebo won the first stage of the Tour of California.

Sad. We of course need to wait for due process of law to sort this out, however flawed that may be, but still... pretty damning stuff.

Feel free to throw in your two cents any time, Mr. Ball.

basp #2 @ coyote point

This post also appears on the Crossniacs team blog.

photo © Cyclocross Magazine

Man, I was ready. I spent all last week kicking butt at work, training was going well and I was rested. Matt and I got to the course a few hours early, did a few recon laps and then just hung out until it was time to roll to the staging area…. good mood, no problems and no stress (other than the usual pre-race jitters). I got to the starting chute extra early and was rewarded with a fifth-row spot behind the call-ups.

The start chute wasn’t actually a part of the course loop; it went up the side of the hill and (for the lack of a more better word) injected us into the Northern part of the course and through the finish line chicanes in the parking lot on top, and from there we went over top of the hill to the far side, then back and forth a few more times and through the “Hecklers’ Corner” sand pit. The course was excellent and very technical and I overheard many people describing it as similar to a short track XC course. Skills are usually more important than speed at this venue, and this race was no different.

The ref blew the whistle and we were off. I was good on the asphalt and into the woodchips - I held my spot pretty well, wasn’t getting pinched or pushed by other riders and the speed was low because we were climbing, which made me feel marginally safer. Then…

PPPPPPPPPSSSSSSSSSSSSssssssssss

Not sure what I ran over, but it must have been sharp as hell because I immediately lost all pressure in the rear tire. I stopped and threw the bike on my shoulder and ran through the chicanes to the neutral pit at the finish line where Zipp Greg threw a new wheel in and I took off again, working my way back up through the pack from DFL and ended up finishing 46th/72.

An honest day’s work, but man…. I had good legs and really wonder how I would have done without that flat. Flats suck, but they build character. I’ve also got to thank all the guys who showed a bit of sympathy as they rode past me - I heard about a dozen “bummer, dude”s as they all went by and another dozen people yelling that the neutral pit was right around the corner… you all rock, seriously.

If this video is any indication, I may be better at carrying my bike than actually riding it. Head on over to the NCNCA Racing blog for more pics and videos.

lion of fairfax

This post also appears on the Crossniacs team blog.

My best race of the season! Matt was kind enough to give me a lift to Marin yesterday morning (thanks dude) and I think we were both anticipating a mud bath. I mean, how could you not after seeing this the day before?

We got to the venue around 11am and found that the course had almost completely dried out. There were a few spots that were still a bit slippery, but for the most part the course was either completely dry or satisfyingly tacky. Our race wasn't until 3pm, so we spent the next few hours watching the racing (Josh Snead murdered everyone in the Men's A race from the gun), scouting the course, and feeling bad for being on our feet and in the sun when we should have been sitting down in the shade.

Finally, after hours of waiting, it was time to race. I got an okay starting position a few rows back, but it wasn't okay enough - some guy went down in front of me within ten seconds of the gun, of course. I slammed on the brakes early enough to stay upright and ride around the fuss, made the front split and pounded on the pedals for the next fifty minutes. The legs felt good, the course was awesome and the hecklers mostly left me alone (I nailed all my remounts so they didn't have anything to make fun of). The only bad part was coming through the start/finish line on my second lap and hearing "SIX TO GO!"... Are you telling me I have to run up that stupid hill SIX more times?!? That seemed like a bit much. Turned out they let us race an extra ten minutes since we were the last race of the day. Still not sure if that was a blessing or a curse.

something for william

It's still on my front door, has been since I got up here.

See you on Twitter.

weekends

Yeah, so it's not just racing that is running me ragged on the weekends and making me (can't believe I'm about to type this) look forward to going back to the office on Mondays...

- Been hanging with my pals Nicole and Jason on the Janky Barge... they rage.



- Got fitted for my new suit (mine will be navy) by the charming Seyta of Duchess Clothiers.

- Been trying to not get behind on my fall reading.

- Been volunteering at the SF Food Bank with Grilled Cheese and Rodney in an effort to chip away at huge mound of bad karma I must have accumulated over the last 28 years.

ATTN C-Murder: You need to check this out RIGHT NOW.

basp #1 @ mclaren park

This post also appears on the Crossniacs team blog.

The first round of BASP is always well attended, and this year was no exception - my race (Men's B) had 77 finishers and Men's C had 107(!). Insane.

This course absolutely KILLS me every year... no matter how good I feel leading into it or how well I do in the flatter races, the combination of massive elevation gain and my single-ring setup pushes every shortcoming to the surface and I usually end up getting spit out back by the end. But I'll be damned if it's not fun as hell, even if my result did get botched (this has become an annoyingly often occurrence in the last year). Big thanks go out to the Freewheel Hayes crew for letting me share their tent and Mark, Matt and Gabe of Squadra Ovest for providing me with a brat and recovery beer after the race.

Some media from around the web:


sandy switchbacks on the upper portion of the course
teaching the young'ns a lesson - grab the dollar, don't bunny-hop it
racing music
photo above courtesy of Cyclocross Magazine

As always, there's lots more pics and video @ NCNCA Racing blog.

larpd #2

This post also appears on the Crossniacs team blog.

Man, check those QRs.... the sketchy one I was using on my rear wheel came loose(!) going into the last lap. In the ten seconds it took me to stop, fix it and get up and running again I went from a virtually guaranteed 6th place (with a good chance at outsprinting my on-course companion for 5th) to eeking out 8th with more than a few people breathing down my neck!

Other than that loose QR, everything is A-OK out here in the Bay Area. The speed and race fitness are coming along nicely, the weather is generally cooperating, and all my fellow racers are psyched to be back on the dirt.

And for those of you who like your racing not-so-sanctioned, the DFL Urban Outlaw Cyclocross-dress series is (dressed) up and running as well. If Barry Wicks shows up and digs it, it must be good!