Let the games begin.....

New season, new team, new bike..... new outlook.

Pic by: Keith Defiebre

CCCX Race #1 Prunedale

Elite men 12th place

Teammates: none.. but Keith rode the Master A

The Prunedale course has been good to me in the past. It has a lot of fast sections peppered with technical dismounts that keep the action going. This was the first CX race for me and on a completely new bike as well.

The new Scott/ Ritchey kits will be here before Pilarcitos

Photo by Rick Rasmussen

The first cross race always is painful but I was pleased with the days events. I got a poor start and moved up in the first lap into about 7th place winding up lap one. I'm on the Rock Lobster train and as we hit the transition from dirt to pavement (a part I did not pre-ride) I washed out the front end. Nothing bad.. just lost a bunch of time/ places and the train keep on a rollin....

I battled back, got a few spots, lost a few, and had some pressure coming from Ben towards the end. A few times during the race, I heard Keith (my new teammate) yell "get up, hammer" and it helped. I fended off Ben in the end for 12th and it was close, who says you don't sprint in cross?

It was a good day. The Scott wasn't dialed in but it will be. It's a really nice bike: snappy and stiff. The SRAM group worked well, I just need a bit more time to get used to it (coming from years or riding on Campy) and the new Ritchey Protocal wheels worked fantastic. Can't wait to mount the Tubular wheel set!

So... here is where I start the season. Things went OK for the most part. I'll be working hard to improve, especially as we get closer to December. Tuesday I'm going to ride out to Mt Tam on the CX bike (more shakedown) and the weather should be great. I am loving riding the bike right now. Good things can only happen......

Yup That's 177 bpm avg....

For an hour.....

Motorpacing rocks

WHEEEEE!!!

Tim, my new teammate, has offered to MP the CX team and I took him up on his offer this morning. He has a bit of experience with this and I looked forward to getting a solid workout. It took me about 35 min's to get down to Woodside where Tim, Nate and I met up at 7:30.

We get the low down on rotation and such then we're off up Canada Rd. What a blast. We ripped up and down 4 times for a total of an hour workout. Pace was in the 25-29 mph range. Never done the Mp before so I don't know if that's fast or not having nothing to compare it to but it felt good. I'm hoping to hit it once a week for the remainder of the season. On the last run, we almost caught the Sat ride leaving Canada and 92(?) heading back towards Woodside. We had blown by in the other direction before we were approaching our turn around.

Fun stuff.....

I registered for my first CX Nationals and managed to get the 1st pre-reg spot in my age group and 40th in the Elite race. Big motivation to meditate on this morning for sure.... Tim and Jesse are signed up as well. Nate is probley going to sign up too. I'm going down to Ritchey to pick up my frame sets/ groups/ etc.... Boy it's starting to feel like the real deal.

Big fun.

I saw this pic today from the Giro and it sums up my Elite 3 race pretty well. This was the most negative race I have ever been in ie: nobody wanted to race. After attacking the group at least 3 times to get a break going to no avail and spending more than a whole lap off the front. I mentally took myself out of the race and finished mid-pack. My form was better in the second race and with Cross coming fast the last thing I wanted was to hit the deck.

Giro di SF and CX update.

33rd addition of the Giro di San Francisco

Giro:

Masters 35+ 1/2/3 Teammates: Channing, Jeff 20th Place

Elite 3 Teammates: Scott, Jeff, Marc 49th Place

I felt good and the race was fast. Not much too exciting to report besides a big crash on the last lap next to me in the M 1/2/3 race, same old story. I was on the wrong side of the split and a group went clear. I finished maybe top 30. It was a gas up until then. Hey... stayed off the ground tho!

So in the E3 race when nobody wanted to ride, I just decided to attack on the hill somewhere around 4-5 times. One of those, staying clear for over a lap. With all the soft-peddling and bunching. I was hoping to string things out or get a break going, so my teammates could move around and do less but only one guy wanted to play.

With 7 to go. I was mid-pak and my head wasn't in it. Riders were fanned out across the course into turns 1-2 and top of the hill. No passing lanes like the M1/2/3 race, just holes to dart into. The pending CX season means to much to me, to be taking any big risks at this point in time. Bummer.... as I felt so much better in the later race. At least my fitness is there.

Metromint did a good job of advertisement for this race, at least in the city. I saw adds everywhere. The crowd seemed bigger than the last few years. It was great that Steve had the Acclerade tent for the Fusion boys to congregate at and warm-up. Thanks Steve!



Big thanks to Keith Williams of Williams wheels, who has been doing nurtal wheel support for a lot of races in the NCNCA. He has been great to me and others from Fusion Sport a lot this year. I rode on the new 30X wheel set which have redesigned hubs (more flange) and ceramic bearings. They were really fast rolling and smooth. The lateral rigidly also seems to have improved. I highley recommend these wheels. A fantastic wheel at a reasonable price web direct.

The Brits (James, Andy) warming up. I love the rollers!



Ummm what gear to start in?

Well you know it's cross season when men in dresses flock to GGP. I rode the SS out to race #1 so, this being a rest week for me, just drank beer and jeered my fellow racers. It was quite fun really, watching the twisted faces of pain, agony and... DUST. I need to get a better camera.

I was coughing as it was, just spectating.... uggh. Please rain in OCT!!!!! I like mud. Watching the race was good, it fired me up and got me feeling anxious to race. CCCX and Loin of Fairfax will probley be my first races unless I can get things sorted before hand equipment wise.....

Men in dresses and chicks dressed like dudes...must be....

DFL Cyclo cross-dressers series!

The big news this year:

For Cyclocross, I will be riding with the new Ritchey Elite Team and we'll be campaigning the new 08' Scott Team Edition......Thank you Scott Bicycles! Drivetrain will be SRAM Force sprinkled with lots Ritchey components. Got word frames are here and the SRAM components will be here next week. New kits and other stuff will show up around Interbike.

This CX season is going to be a blast. I am up for it.

Jesse snapped this pic @ Eurobike

Yup that's my new ride.

Sunday, Sunday.......Sunday

Bike path from Tiburon with Mt. Tam in the distance..

What a great ride today, we had a large portion of the team out today for a great spin around Paradise to Tiburon. The weather was perfect and I for one, felt pretty good. I did get a bit nauseated at the end of the "fast" loop but in the past that has worked out to be good come race time.

Steve took some cool pic's..... Peep em' out.

Giro tomorrow, see you there!

James, Scott, Tanja, and I.

Enjoying the day!

Loop stats: 13km/ T20:40/ 37.3 kph ----- Avg HR/ Pwr-- 164/268

New PR for the "Loop." I covered many attacks and closed a few gaps. In the end I tried to get away but the legs were not quite ready for that. Close though....... A really a good ride. Everyone rode well.