Surf City Pie Cross

Last weekend me and a few friends stumbled into a van at the ass-crack of dawn from Oakland to head down to Santa Cruz for Surf City's second race of the year, Pie Cross. I tried to sleep in the car, but once we hit those mountainous Santa Cruz roads my stomach made that damn near impossible. The swinging left and swinging right turned my stomach was upside down. I just hoped that it wouldn't affect my race. I was so grateful to step out of the car at the Cal-Fire Training Facility on Empire Grade, but now I had something else to contend with, the cold. This is the mountains, it also made me feel no envy for those racing in the snow/wet rain on the East Coast (let alone if anyone is riding a bike in my former hometown of Buffalo right now; yikes!). We shivered at registration and once our names were on the list we ran to the car to get on our bikes and preride the course. A quick preride proved that this course would have some technical bits that could cost the fast people while also having long straight flats that could cost the technically savvy but slow folk. It was a mixed bag that I couldn't wait to race.

At around 10AM, the sun was out and the cold was gone. The B's lined up under the banner. I wanted to focus on fixing some things I feel like I didn't do well last time, the first one being the holeshot. At Sierra Point I got stuck behind a bunch of folks and spent most of that narrow technical race trying to find room to make moves. When I surveyed the course I figured the left side would be best as the course opens up to that side with room to pass and can also give an inside line on the first corner. At the gun I was off, I pulled around the racer directly in front of me and saw that I was somewhere near the front. Around the first corner I made my body big, threw some shoulders and elbows out there to maintain a good position. After the first few switchbacks I could only see about eight or so people in front of me. Considering I was on the second line at the start, I'd label that as a successful start. I kept the tempo up through the first lap. Fast people passed, but I crossed the line in 12th place, not so bad.

 Broakland!

Jortz!

The next few laps went well, I was happy with my choices and my lines. I was riding both smooth and fast. Then come the third lap something happened, as it should. Around the wide concrete 180 to the straightaway I could feel my front tire folding over. It somehow burped and lost a bunch of air. Shit. I focused on keeping the bike upright. Because I wasn't totally bottoming out the rim, I could keep bombing the straightaways, my tire wanted to slip out on the bends, so I took them slower and more deliberately. I finally made the pits, got a quick refill and was back on the course, but that silly move of trying a lower pressure was a bad idea, never trying something new on race day kiddos.

The race was held at the Cal Fire Training Facility; my dad (a volunteer firefighter) would have been excited.

I was able to pick up a few more spots during the final few laps and never once fell. I was attacking the straightaways and knew the sections where I was picking people off and focusing on taking spots there. Before I knew it the bell was ringing, final lap. I turned on what I had left, took some more spots and near the finish line I saw two people right in front of me. I took the inside line on that same concrete 180 and took one. Then around the gravel final bend to the straightaway I tried taking the outside on the final racer in front of me. Bad move. The racer in front of me took the whole course and nearly ran me into the barriers, I squeezed my brakes and had to cede the sprint over to the two other guys.

This wooded section was a blast.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with my race, I did much better than Sierra Point, I was aggressive on the holeshot and kept my tempo up for the whole 35 minutes. Surf City had some struggles with their scoring so I'm not sure how I did, but I believe it was somewhere around 16th place out of 35, which is way better than the near basement I finished at BASP. I'm already pre-reged for Candlestick Sunday, hope to see you there!

Bay Area Super Prestige #2: Sierra Point Night Race

This was not only my first ever sanctioned race, but this was also my first time even attending a cross race. I wanted to ride out there early, see the course, and watch some of the early races, but some personal stuff happened and my friend Nat and I drove in about an hour before our race. I was so glad Nat was there to show me the ropes of how to do racing (where to put my jersey number, when to do lap warmups, etc.), I would have been so lost otherwise.

We kept loose and tried to get one more lap of the course before we were called to the line. Like before any race I let my nerves go (it helps build adrenaline, which helps me go faster). The whistle blew; and off we went. I started middle of the pack, probably closer to the back. I tried not to eat shit in the pack (riding in a group is new to me), we bottlenecked on the first turn, but bottlenecked worse on the mud where there is only one line. I ran it to try to take a few places only to hop back on for another bottleneck (I wish I had seen some more of the course, because now I know that was a place to run too).

The first lap was tight, but by the time we rounded the final bend the race opened up some. I tried to focus on picking off the people in front of me, which it felt like I was doing. I honestly only really remember people passing me when I put my face on the ground (note to self; it doesn't belong there). From there I rode pretty clean and picked people off slowly but surely. I pushed it hard to the final bell. There were three folks I followed the last lap that I just couldn't quite catch, oh well, I still felt good about my race; that is, until I saw the results, 46th of 73rd. I guess I can't complain since it was my first sanctioned race ever and besides one spill, I rode pretty clean and safe.

Our race ended right at dusk. Once the sun set below the peninsula hills the beer started flowing. Being a sucker, I had work at 8 AM the next morning, so I opted to drive and not drink, but it didn't matter the party gathered up on "Heckle Hill" for some shenanigans. The race, the party, everything, I cannot wait for the next cross race. I'm hoping to make it down to the Surf City race next weekend in Santa Cruz. We'll see!

Dollar handups!

Stop smiling, this is racing, it's not supposed to be fun.

Jortz!

The Everchanging Cross Check...

 

 ...will get a new change tomorrow (well, some minor tweaks). The last time I updated what I was riding was for the Trans Am Race. Well, the night before the Trans Northern California I took some boutiquey shots of the bike before I left (does the self consciousness of being a total and huge bike dweeb ever wear off in taking these photos?).

This was the big difference, big, meaty, Kenda Slant-Six's.

Good hardpack profile, with some decent grip.

They juuuuuust squeeze in.

This was a headache. I would come to find that I would need that little bit of extra room in the dropout, so it was me and Jonathan strangling this thing the night before in our hotel room in Boomtown.

See that word Sealant? These are Kenda's that are latex friendly, either way, I went latex free and Slimed 'em.

I did not opt for dirt drops. That was stupid, my back hurt on these bars. I also think having a more up-to-date 31.8 clamp might have helped the bangs and also helped with control, but live and learn. (Also, pink makes you go faster).

I recently learned that the XT 9-speed derailleurs work well on 10-speed XT cassettes and have the same pull length as 105 10-speed STI shifters. That will be an upgrade eventually. Also, that is a road Tiagra triple up front, what a poor choice for this race. 

It's not really all that different from the Trans Am build, mostly just changed the tires out and got new cranks, but either way, it looks pretty killer no? 

(Note: I did not edit any of these pictures because I was lazy and my camera decided to shoot in .JPG instead of .RAW. So be it)