Date:
17 December 2005
Location: Livermore
Category: B
Distance: 45 minutes
Field: 20
Conditions: Raining, mud, and cold
Teammates: none
I finally got my wife to go check me out racing
since my race wasn't until 11am she got a chance
to sleep in. 2 other friends came out also to
brave the cold weather that turned into rain as
I raced. This was my 1st race as a B since CX
is self categorized I decided I would see how
the B's race and let me tell you they are fast!!!
I did 1 lap to see the flat course with a long
staircase run up at the Livermore rodeo park place.
I was pretty happy with the course but coming
off a week with no riding due to trying not to
get sick wasn't pretty. It was going to be a fast
race and I was breaking in my new Lemond poprad
that I spent the week building up myself that
in itself was a major learning experience but
on with the racing.
Lined up with all new faces at the B race except
for 2 other regulars from the C group that are
fast. I started great but some mystical force
was preventing me from clipping in everytime I
had to dismount. So I would lose alot of time
jamming my foot into the pedal each time and with
5 dismount locations each lap that is huge. The
course had a 20 ft long mud puddle followed by
a 50ft section of sand and I decided to use my
new bike was set up with V-brakes instead of running
my Canti equipped bike so I learned a big lesson
there which is mud = canti!! The race was flat
fast and brutal and I was losing time on the dismounts
and regained time on the flat straight sections.
The rain wasn't a big factor and each time I made
up ground but the B's are fast but I was having
a blast. I settled in to a nice rhythm and as
my wife and friends cheered I finished in 8th
which being my 1st higher category race was great.
Next race Dec. 18 CCCX Fort Ord
New Santa Cruz series added to the season 01/15,
01/22, 01/29
Travis Tonn
San Jose Bicycle Club
Racing since 1939
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