Jim Hewett's Blog – October 2013 Archive (4)

My son Simon and I made the 2 hour journey to Santa Cruz today for the second of the Surf City Cyclocross races.  It was sunny as we left Fairfax, but quickly turned overcast and colder through San Francisco.  We arrived in Santa Cruz with enough time for him to register and prepare for the kids' race.  They lined them up in two start groups:  7-9 year olds and 6 and under. …

I have been working on my new cyclocross bike and it's starting to really come together.  I changed the handlebars for 44cm wide Ritchey WCS Logic bars, adding 2 cm of width and losing a couple of ounces.  I lost the double front chainrings and added a single 42 tooth Wolftooth narrow/wide ring.  I added a short cage "type 2" rear deraileur and an 11-36 XX cassette.  I have settled on a much lower handlebar position that allows me to get aero, ride in the hoods in a powerful position, and…

Today was the second race of the new Norcal CX Series.  While I was excited to race The Lion of Fairfax in Fairfax, where I live, it wasn't meant to be.  Due to continued construction at White Hill Middle School (the usual location), the race moved to a new venue in Los Altos.

I left home later than I had intended, and reached the race 30 minutes before I was scheduled to stage for my race.  This is not ideal, as I still had to prep my bikes, dress, and hopefully pre-ride the course. …

My son Simon and I made the trip down to San Jose to race the very first Norcal CX series race ever.  I could tell Simon was a little nervous, as he was extra chatty and anxious to get on the course.  I guess that is one thing 4 year old and 41 year old racers will usually have in common.  I am very used to racing and I don't put a lot of emphasis on 'cross racing in general, but I intend to do all of the races in this series and I was shooting for a good start.  Last week's BASP race had…