Blissful friday...

Only thing better would've been if i got got home earlier!

McLaren Madness...

BASP # At McLaren Park in SF

This is the first CX race of the season for the Pilarcitos boys and in my backyard. This course is always hard and I thought they did a fine job of making it a bit better adding much more grass and an awesome quad barrier. Yes I like to run!

Going into this weekend I was concerned about my thumb as it was still a bit sore from the fall last weekend at Laguna. I taped it up and knew it would be really hard as this venue is probley the most bumpy of all and it was going to really hurt.


Honestly, I wasn't to fired up for this race. I was going to have a hard time with my hand not working well but I didn't want to not race--and miss out on the fitness aspect or the points I may get and need later, for the series overall, as little as it may be. (yes I do think about these things)

Tuesday last week I still had quite a bit of swelling with the thumb but it was getting better.

Super fun quad barriers......

I ended up not getting a very good spot on the line ...... 4th row or so, which sucked but the reality was I was already off the back so to speak with no warm up and a bum hand. I figured I would just ride my race and try to pick the pace up when I could and stay off the ground. In that aspect it was a success. I went backwards till about 1/2 distance then started to move up a bit and passed a few guys here and there. I felt very good "on the run" with the hill and the barriers. Another nice thing, is after doing the big hill 8-9 times, my legs aren't sore at all.

So in the end I wasn't last and limited the damage on the thumb by riding one handed over some of the rougher sections in the grass and where ever else I could. At one point I almost just stopped but I talked myself into finishing. This week I'll hope to recover and get out again this next weekend. We'll see.....

The new 2009 Team Scott CX bikes.

BAD ASS !!!

Locked and loaded...

McLaren park tomorrow-

Shit happens....

This last weekend, was LARPD #3 and CCCX #3 . This had to be one of the most disappointing weekends racing CX ever, besides last year--when I fell and blew my knee wide open and needed 23 stitches (scroll down to CCCX#4 post).

I felt really good on Saturday and figured I would have a good race on my hands with the smallish field that showed mostly containing my A-40 buddys. I was in the lead and not soon there after I flatted little bit past 1/2 distance on the back side of the course, on the 1st lap. I didn't bring spare wheels so I packed it up and watched James B get the better of Grant. OK time to brave traffic back to the city... Fleet Week really can suck sometimes....

I was using some clincher tires because my tubular's are worn out and haven't found replacements yet. Knowing I wanted to use the same tires from Sat (Michelin Jet), I decided to go "getto" tubeless--sliced an inner-tube as a liner+Stan's and viola! tubeless tires....

I did this before on my mtb and it worked great and I was confidant that it would hold up for the CCCX race (which it did).

My first ever front row start in the elite field....

Well... my legs felt great on Sat and in the Sunday warm up laps (4 total) again felt OK. I liked the course with the monster hill. Toro park mtb was way harder IMHO. So I get a decent start, and at the top of the hill I can hardly believe I'm still in 5th place with the leaders! Once into the technical section at the top I didn't feel blown up and started recovering quickly.

Onto the backside there was a very fast section with a couple of tricky turns if your going fast. In practice I had a good line going outside/ inside up the incline, which had a few small stepped ruts and some sand. Well...we were flying into this turn at mach speed and I was off my line to the inside where it was deeper sand and I washed out my front wheel at mach speed.....

What a blunder. I have no excuse--I blew it. I should have slowed more or re-adjusted my line and paid the price. I was happy that we had a small gap and nobody else went down. I jumped up and got off the trail and assessed the damage. Almost flat rear tire, locked front brake, handlebars knocked crooked and left shifter lever pushed all the way in....

No choice but to run...........

The entire A field and most of the SS guys passed me before I even had the bike on my shoulder and could get running. Once at the pit I swapped wheels and straightened out what I could, mumbled a few curse words under my breath and hopped back on.

Down but not knocked out...

I tried to not think about it but I was really disappointed. I wanted more than anything to just get a honest shot of seeing where I stand fitness wise to the local Nor-Cal CX field. This was a great chance as it also was the first round of the NCNCA Cup race with 41 entrants, about 10 more than the last CCCX and a real deal field.

In the end I finished the race DFL . I was lucky to not get hurt much (jammed my thumb? crazy...) and the bike is more or less fine. I got out and rode Wed night and my legs felt quite good actually. My thumb is tender but will be OK for Sunday's BASP opener at McLaren Park.

--Another hard course.

So happy for it to be over!


I think I just need to let it happen.....

That kind of night.

Oh ya.