Surf City #1 Report
Could have gone better, could have gone worse. It's still debatable as to whether I'm doing too much effort during the week between races, or not enough. Though lately, it seems more and more apparent that the former is the case. More on that later.
Surf City #1 happened at Aptos High School, a course I've never done. Let's be clear about one thing...this is a messed up cross course. But at the same time, it's probably more authentically "cross" than a lot of the stuff I've done where you only hop off the bike once per lap. Oh no...in contrast, this course had five, that's right five run-up's of the sort that required bike shouldering, and two of them in particular were so absurdly steep that you had to be careful where you placed your feet or you'd slide back down. This was in dry, sandy conditions...I can't imagine what it would have been like if it were soggy.
That said, I rather liked it. Other bits were similarly tough and technical. If only I'd had legs to hit it at 100% of my abilities. As it was, I got a decenct but not stellar start, and settled into 3rd, where I could watch Robert Mau and Dave Samples ride away from me. I held my own for most of the race, despite getting tangled in the caution tape in a section of tight, slippery 180 degree turns on wet leaves. I crashed hard enough to mess up my second helmet in a month, and nearby spectators let out an "oooooohhhhhh" as I hit the ground. But I held onto 3rd at that point, surprisingly. It wasn't until later in the race when some guy whizzed past me like he'd just started, and then later I found myself battling with Jordi Cortez, a strong rider whom I normally beat. He passed me but I passed him back, and we were heading into the final few corners in close contention. It would be tight but I think I could have held him off. Instead I botched a dismount and dropped my chain. Again. In the time I lost fiddling with it, Jordi and some other guy got past me. Unfortunate. And 6th place. Ironically, my spare bike was so close that had I remembered and went for it, I might have held 4th. Alas.
Still, 6th is respectable and I can hardly call it an injustice, especially since I rode far from a perfect race. Most disturbing, I still seem to lack that "snap" that I had before. And I sure could use it.
Could have gone better, could have gone worse. It's still debatable as to whether I'm doing too much effort during the week between races, or not enough. Though lately, it seems more and more apparent that the former is the case. More on that later.
Surf City #1 happened at Aptos High School, a course I've never done. Let's be clear about one thing...this is a messed up cross course. But at the same time, it's probably more authentically "cross" than a lot of the stuff I've done where you only hop off the bike once per lap. Oh no...in contrast, this course had five, that's right five run-up's of the sort that required bike shouldering, and two of them in particular were so absurdly steep that you had to be careful where you placed your feet or you'd slide back down. This was in dry, sandy conditions...I can't imagine what it would have been like if it were soggy.
That said, I rather liked it. Other bits were similarly tough and technical. If only I'd had legs to hit it at 100% of my abilities. As it was, I got a decenct but not stellar start, and settled into 3rd, where I could watch Robert Mau and Dave Samples ride away from me. I held my own for most of the race, despite getting tangled in the caution tape in a section of tight, slippery 180 degree turns on wet leaves. I crashed hard enough to mess up my second helmet in a month, and nearby spectators let out an "oooooohhhhhh" as I hit the ground. But I held onto 3rd at that point, surprisingly. It wasn't until later in the race when some guy whizzed past me like he'd just started, and then later I found myself battling with Jordi Cortez, a strong rider whom I normally beat. He passed me but I passed him back, and we were heading into the final few corners in close contention. It would be tight but I think I could have held him off. Instead I botched a dismount and dropped my chain. Again. In the time I lost fiddling with it, Jordi and some other guy got past me. Unfortunate. And 6th place. Ironically, my spare bike was so close that had I remembered and went for it, I might have held 4th. Alas.
Still, 6th is respectable and I can hardly call it an injustice, especially since I rode far from a perfect race. Most disturbing, I still seem to lack that "snap" that I had before. And I sure could use it.
posted by the seamus at 7:22 PM
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