Bay Area Super Prestige #2, Candlestick Point, 10/21/07
6th place, Elite Men

Probably my best start to a cross race ever. Got though the first corner in fourth position with Justin, O'Dell, and Jesse in front of me. That lasted until the first single barrier section where Jesse goes down in the 180 right before the next little ride up. I brake hard to avoid rolling over his head and lose all my momentum. A couple of guys come by me and I get rolling again but there is now a gap to the front two. Josh and Dave go by at the start of lap two, on there way towards Justin and O'Dell. I settle in with a guy (Kirt) in a Putney kit. He's on a singlespeed, but racing with us. We start working together over the next couple of laps, put a decent gap on folks behind, and limited our losses to Justin and the Lobsters up ahead. Lap three, O'Dell flats out of the front group and has a long way to go to get a wheel. So Kirt and I were running fourth and fifth coming up on the halfway mark. About that point, my rear wheel starts to feel like it's losing pressure. After a lap of fretting and wondering if I was going to be able to make it around for a bike swap, I realize that it's my saddle that's gone all spongy. Turns out I'd snapped both rails right in front of the clamp. So the nose of the saddle would drop three or four centimeters when all my weight was on it. It was still ridable, so I decided to stick it out and do my remounts as gently as possible. While I was figuring all this out, (thanks Hans for listening to me blather,) I let a five second gap open up. With four laps to go, I could see a group containing Troy, O'Dell and Cameron coming up behind me. I sit up a bit, planning to jump on their wheels and try and get a break, knowing they'll tow me back up to Kirt. Once we get to him, Troy and O'Dell accelerate again and leave the three of us. We work together until two to go, when Kirt wraps himself around a pole on the inside of turn one. He goes down in front of me and have to slow to get around him. Re-acelerate and close the gap to Cameron at the end of first long bumpy straight. Meanwhile, Troy up ahead has flatted and drops back while getting a wheel. Cam and I, running fifth and sixth work together for the remainder. Coming off the dirt into the parking lot in the last quarter lap, Cam gaps me because I've been flailing on the curb hop for pretty much the entire race. I claw my way back to his wheel and get just a bit of rest before we cross the last twenty yards of dirt going into the finishing straight. Cam jumps as we come off the dirt. I dig, and start coming around in the last hundred yards but come up half a bike length short as we cross the line. He scored the last podium spot, and but I was still psyched to have had a good race.

Thanks for the cheers and the heckles. As usual, good to see folks tearing it up.

-Aron

avoidance...

lauren avoids the bummer life.

brian avoids the ft. ord poison oak.

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Race Report: Bay Area Super Prestige #1

Bay Area Super Prestige #1, Sierra Point, 10/7/07
7th place, Elite Men

Had a pretty mellow week training-wise, so I was hoping for some fresh legs on Sunday. There were forty or more guys at the line when I rolled up to the start. Tom Simpson blessed me with a callup to the front. When we were all set, Funke lit a firecracker and we were off. Lining up on the left turned out to be a mistake, as I got pinched on the inside in the first corner and watched ten guys go right by me. Crap. Okay, run through the first little down-up section, back on the bike and get to work. Lap two, I'd moved up to around tenth, and was sitting on a couple guys and waiting for a good spot to come around. Here comes Rich Maile barreling up from behind. Rich usually races 35+ and was killing everyone in his race until he flatted out. I guess he hadn't had enough and jumped into the Elite race. He proceeds to come around without missing a beat, and I know this is my best shot at continuing to move up without destroying myself. So I jump on and we ride away from the guys I was with. A lap and a half later, Rich rides me off his wheel and keeps going forward. Half a lap later, I uncross my eyes and spot Aaron Kereluk just ahead, coming back to me. I latch on, get a break for a lap, and get my head together. Rich is up ahead 10-15 seconds running in sixth. Kereluk and I are sitting seventh and eighth. Looking back, I see Aaron O'Dell coming up smoothly. I didn't want to be riding with Kereluk when O'Dell caught on. That would have been two Rocklobsters against one Sycip. So I rolled around Kereluk and got on the gas. I managed to ride away from him about two-thirds of a lap later. Meanwhile Rich has popped and comes back past me and then O'Dell and Kereluk. So I'm riding sixth at that point. O'Dell makes it up to my wheel a half a lap later, with about four laps to go at that point. He rests for a bit, comes around and digs again. I hang on his wheel for about a lap when the rubber band finally snaps and he rides away. The last three laps, I hang in there, try to be smooth and stay out in front of Kereluk and Maile. Roll across the line for seventh. Easily my best result at a Pilarcitos race. Psyched.

-Aron


Rich ripping it in the singlespeed race.


Matt rolling through the barriers.

results

Race Report: Central Coast CX #2

CCCX #2, Toro Park, 9/30/07
5th place, Elite Men


Ready set go.

A tougher course than last week. It started with a steep paved climb (20-25 seconds) then dumped onto a fast singletrack descent that took you all the way to the bottom of the course. Then gently uphill as you wound your way through a bunch of loose/sandy chicanes and a few barriers until you arrived back at the start. It was moderately hot, but not unbearable. The same fast guys were there again, except for Josh. But AndyJM was there, so same difference. I got a call-up and held close to Justin going up the hill and entered the singletrack in fifth. towards the end of the first lap, I didn't have quite enough to stay on the wheels of the lead four. I was less than five seconds back when they hit the pavement to start of lap two. But they just motored away. There was one other kid (Logan) with me as I hit the pavement, but he popped on the hill and went backwards. Managed to stay within 10-15 seconds of the leaders for the first three laps, but I knew that unless they started messing around I wasn't going to make it up to them. About halfway through the race, Aaron O'Dell popped off the back of the lead group and started coming back to me. With about three to go, I had closed to about 10-15 seconds on him, but he turned on the gas again and extended back to about thirty seconds by the finish. Hopefully one of these days I'll be able to hang with the leaders for more than a lap.

Still, a good race. Glad last week wasn't just a fluke. The steep climb made the course more selective. Good to see Bill out there again, as well as the Sycips that made it to the Fairfax race on Saturday. I was just spectating. That looked like a rough course.

-Aron

Results
Rick's Photos