Got your 411 right here....

CCCX #1 Pro/ Expert Single Speed

--3rd Place--

Last weekend I traveled down to Ft. Ord for the first round of the CCCX mountian bike series. After riding most of the cyclocross races there I knew it would be a blast with some bigger tires and suspention.

New for this year I am getting some support for the single speed racing from Fisher. I recived a nice new Fisher rig 29er on the Wed. before the race and managed to get it set up in time with some help from my buddy Sal. Kit should be along shortly......

23.5 lbs. -- very nice setup....

I have a few things left to do but out of the box this is a fantastic bike. It handles better than the last two 29er SS's I have had (a 2006 Rig and a Bianchi Rita). I guess the geomerty has been changed for 2008, it works.... well! The addation of a switch from a Rock Shox Reba to a Fox F29 fork also was a huge improvement. Not that any of the other bikes were "bad" it's just that this one is really so much improved. I am very impressed.

As for the race it I feel it went well. We started at the back with the Expert 19-34 age group instead of dead last which was good. It was a pavement start and once onto the dirt I was in a good position somewhere in the top 20 in our combined field. Before crossing the finsih line where the 5 lap countdown would start we had to ascend what I would say was the main climb. Once on the climb I drilled it and passed quite a few guys including all the SS. So first time across the finish line I was 1st SS. I stayed ahead for a while but as soon as I need a short break to recover Ceasar and Miles caught me right at worst time. They got a gap on me and I kept them in sight for 2+ laps but could not close. with 1st/ 2nd out of sight and 2 lpas to go I focused on keeping the speed up and peadling everwhere. On the last half of the 4th lap I started to catch Miles but Ceasar was nowhere in to be seen. I finally made it up to Miles and passed him going across the finish line, now on the penutamte lap. I stepped it up and drilled it through the tight singletrack hoping to get a gap I could hold till the fast downhill. It worked for a while but just when it really mattered, on the 2nd to last tough climb, Miles caught me and attacked. I tried to respond but the legs were starting to cramp and there was still one more big climb to go. I dug deep and gambled I might catch him on the final climb and outrun him to the finish.

NOPE....

Miles rode strong and the gap was close... 8 sec close but with only one gear you end up waiting for someone to make a mistake and he did well not to. I was happy with 3rd and my cardo fitness was really good (avg 182) and a max of 196 (haven't seen that in a while). With some time on the bike and more hill repeats I am confindent a win is within my grasp sometime this season.

Sunset driving home after the race up Hwy 1

This Sunday is CCCX #2 again @ Ft. Ord. I have had some good training this week, dispite school kicking my ass, so we'll see how it goes. A strong motivator for me is the fact that if you compare times to the Pro/ Semi-Pro times, I would have been in 6th.

O.F.G.