BASP #3 - Sierra Point Night Race

[Jim Hewett]

The Sierra Point night race was to be my first of two races for the weekend.  I don't do a lot of doubles, but I know this is a fun venue and I wanted to do the NorCal CX Series race on Sunday, so I headed down to Brisbane on Saturday evening.

I arrived with plenty of time to pre-ride the course and watch some earlier races.  It was quite an exciting scene, with lights and people everywhere.  The course was bumpy and dusty, with a few contrived patches of mud.  There were lots of turns, the Summit Bicycles Suffer Bridge, two sets of barriers and one rideable run-up with a small barrier.  I was racing for the first time on tubular cyclocross tires:  Clement PDX 33 front, MXP 33 rear, glued to 24mm wide Tubolite aluminum rims.  I had heard a lot about the performance benefits of tubulars for 'cross, and I must say the grip and cushion was a noticeable improvement over the tubeless setup I have been riding.  I settled on 29psi rear, 28psi front by my digital gauge and once I became used to bottoming the rim without negative consequence, I felt like I was flying.  I must thank Peter Lucas at Above Category Cycling in Sausalito for gluing these on last week and inspiring me with the confidence to lower my pressure and trust this new old technology.

The course started on a fast and wide paved section to a left turn over a curve onto dirt.  It wound around to the three mud sections, which were in corners and cost me some speed.  From there we hit three long paved straights and 3 180 degree turns.  This back section wasn't very well lighted and you had to slow a good bit for the turns, but after that we were back onto bumpy dirt.  The next obstacle was a short and loose climb just after a turn.  There was a wooden step in the middle of it.  I was able to ride this alright in my pre-ride, with no-one in front of me.  We then sped around to two barriers that were in a 180 degree turn and around more corners to a two barrier section.  These barriers were spaced far enough to jump, but for some reason I botched them twice in practice and decided I would probably just dismount.  After a few more 180s, we climbed the only small hill (20 feet?) on the course a few times.  The run-up on the stairs of the Suffer Bridge followed, and a short sand section.  After a long straight dirt section we made another full turn to hammer on the paved section at the start of the course.  This course was a lot of "hurry up and slow down", so I knew I would need to get onto the dirt in a good position. 

I received a front row call up and felt good about my chances.  This series draws the fastest riders from NorCal, with Ben Jacques Maynes, Scott Chapin, Walt Brush, Keith Hillier, Cameron Falconer and more all ready to race under the lights.  Paul Sadoff played the National Anthem on an electric guitar and we were off!  My start wasn't great but we avoided any accidents making the high speed left turn over the curb.  I think I was probably in 12th or so, but a few people went down in the mud and I moved up a few spots.  We all sprinted like mad on the paved straights, shadows and racers passing on each side.  I wasn't feeling great, but I was putting in some good efforts and maintaining my position.  Keith Hillier and I went back and forth a couple of times on the 2nd and 3rd lap, and he passed me as I washed out on a turn before the first hill climb.  I jumped back on the bike, but immediately realized I had bent my rear deraileur hanger again.  I was able to use 5 gears or so, but none of them did not grind in protest.  I adjusted to the problem, which wasn't critical due to the flat nature of the course, but it was not ideal.

From there there was a lot of passing and being passed.  I fell out of contention for the top five.  Derek Yarra came by me, as did Alex Work.  I sprinted against one of my three shadows on the backside of the course, to find I couldn't outrun it.  I botched the run-up with the step on half of my attempts and had to put a foot down or dismount.  I was hearing reports from the racing at the front on the loudspeakers, and it sounded like Scott Chapin was riding away from the field on a singlespeed.  With a couple laps to go, Aaron Bradford passed me on a singlespeed and we were back and forth a little.  I tried hard to sprint by him at the end, but it didn't happen.  I think I finished in 11th or 12th (actually 13th), which is my worst result of the year so far.

The novelty of the night venue is a lot of fun for racers and spectators, but something about the flat course or conditions has never favored me.  I made my way home, eyes bleary with dust and a little disheartened by the result.  I downed some OSMO Vanilla Acute Recovery and almond milk and told myself that I would have a chance to do better the next day at the NorCal CX Series race in Vallejo.