Bay Area Super Prestige #4 and #5

[Jim Hewett]

A week after racing in Oregon,  it was back to Northern California for another Candlestick BASP race.  My fitness was beginning to wane, which hadn't been disastrous, but had definitely left me without the punch to hang with the front guys. I started pretty strong but slowly moved out of the top 6 or so.  I did my best to hammer on the few long, flat, straight sections.  I was seeing some decently high heart rate numbers, but I was out of contention for a podium by minutes.  Towards the end I was mixing it up with Jordan Anderson (the Owen's Healthcare racer from the Medford race the weekend before) and Kurt Wolfgang.  I put in some hard efforts on the pedally sections and came in 9th overall.

The weekend after Thanksgiving I didn't race, but I did train intensity on Saturday getting some Strava KOMs in the water district.  With only  two races remaining in my cyclocross season, I was trying my best to keep what fitness I had going.  I had moved back to 8-9 hours of training a week, keeping some hard efforts in the mix, but I was moving farther and farther from my endurance base and it was apparent.

While some NorCal racers were freezing their tushes off at the races in Bend, the rest of us braved the above freezing temps in San Mateo to compete in the final 2013 race of the BASP series.  The field was smaller than usual, but there were still many fast guys.  Finnerty, Brush, Hillier, Trux, Abbot (back from the concussion!), Ben Jacques-Mayne and more lined up at the base of the start climb.  I was called up to the front row, where things were definitely more relaxed than at some of our starts.  The race started with the relatively long (for a 'cross race) climb and then the bumpy and winding descent back to the beach for a sandy, but rideable, section after a couple of barriers.  I was in about 6th place as we worked our way around the back of the course.  I went back and forth with Julian Villafane-Gomez for the second and third lap until he moved a little ahead.  I was passed on the climb by Ned Overend, 58 (?) year old former XC world champion and lost another place to an unfamiliar rider.  I tried to keep up a good pace, and I thought I might have a chance of bringing Julian back.

On the penultimate lap, I heard a hiss from my front tubular just at the end of the long descent.  I shouldered the bike and ran the sand section to get to the pit.  I dropped my deflated 'cross bike and jumped on my mountain bike backup, losing one place in the process and allowing Jordan Anderson to get pretty close to me.  I stayed ahead of him for the first bit of the last lap, but he caught me at the sand section and made a strong move to get around me.  I followed him closely for the rest of the race, but I did not have enough kick left to come around.  I think I finished 10th?  It's funny, the more people that finish in front of you, the less aware you are of your exact position.

I was disappointed to finish the BASP series without a single podium result, but I think it is a sign of the level of competition this series attracts.  My last race of the year will be the NorCal CX Supcat.  I am leading the series, so I hope to clench it with a strong performance next weekend.  That would be a nice way to finish what has been a fun 2013 cyclocross season.