NorCal CX #5 - End of the Series and the End of My Cyclocross Season

[Jim Hewett]

Saturday was the last race of the inaugural NorCal CX Series.  Simon and I travelled to yet another new course, this one at Lake Cunningham Park in San Jose.  We weren't sure what to expect, but Murphy promised that it would be a great venue and the weather looked perfect.  It was also Simon's 5th birthday, though we had already celebrated with a party a couple of weeks before.

My cyclocross season has been going for a few months and the fitness has recently declined.  I trained to peak a month or so ago and I am now in the trough that comes after the crest of a wave.  I wish my crest had been more spectacular, but some mechanical issues at key races and really solid competition had diminished my results.  For the last month I have been trying to maintain enough fitness to finish the NorCal CX Series strongly enough to hold onto the series lead.

Simon has raced a few of the kids' races this year and he really enjoys it.  Here he is below (#908) before the start. I think he was talking smack to some other kids he met about his Garmin.

Simon raced hard and came in 5th behind some older kids. I was very proud of his effort on 2 laps of a shorter version of our course.  He washed out twice in a loose corner, but picked his bike up and kept going.  After his race, he was given a cupcake topped with bacon and he attended a kid-specific heckling class given by the promoters.  Obviously, it is fun for me when he gets excited about racing bikes, as it is an important thing in my life, but I feel he is learning some good lessons in the process.

I was able to ride a couple of laps before my race to check out the course.  It was different than any of the other ones we have seen this season.  There was flat grass pedaling and a couple steep climbs and descents, but the 2 100' long sand sections and the equally long mud section really set it apart.  I guess the "Spiral of Death" was new to many, but such contrivances were old hat to me as I had already survived one in Medford a few weeks earlier.  All in all, it was a great course that favored the power rider, with classic cyclocross conditions but equally classic NorCal weather - sunny and high 50s in December!

I saw many of the regulars at the start line, and, realistically, I knew that a win was not in the cards.  Tobin Ortenblad, Walt Brush, Mitch Trux, Justin Abbot, and Julian Gomez Villafane had all beaten me in the weeks before.  I had a decent points lead in the series, but this race was worth double points.  I was marking the second place rider in the series, Devon Vigus, and the rider in third, Don Myrah.  I knew that placing more than 5 places behind either of them would lose the series title for me, so the pressure was definitely on.

I had a terrible start because of difficulty clipping into my pedals that were still a little clogged with dirt from pre-riding the mud section.  I went from the first row to about 15th place in 5 seconds.  I think Drew Juliano, Tobin, and Walt were in the front, and they got pretty far ahead very quickly.  I pushed hard to make up some places and was able to overtake a few riders before the first run-up, which was a long set of stairs that you could ride beside on the left, then cross and ride on the right.  After this we hit a steep descent into some loose dirt and a sandy corner before getting to the other (relatively) big climb of the course, a steep and loose pitch that put you off the bike and running before the top.  Next we descended into the first long sand section.  Everyone tried to ride it as far as they could, but most ended up shouldering their bikes and running in the foot deep sand.  I think I passed another rider here, before we climbed a small hill and descended to the long mud section.  It was wide and long, but only about 6-8" deep.  There was no way to avoid it, so I entered it with speed and powered through it as well as I could.

  We don't get much mud in NorCal 'cross, so it is slightly novel, but no less discouraging.  I felt the extra weight on my shoes and bike as I exited only to proceed to "shake and bake" both in the next sand section.  I passed Julian on foot and gained another couple of places before the spriral section.  As we looped around the spiral, we were able to see the people ahead and behind.  I could see both Don and Devon ahead of me by around 10 seconds and I began to panic a little as I was already feeling tired and it was only the first lap!

I kept pushing, overtaking a couple more riders until I caught Devon a few laps in.  He seemed pretty gassed and encouraged me to go after Don.  We must have been just inside the top ten and I think Don was in the top three at that point.  I found myself mixing it up with Julian Gomez Villafane and Justin Abbot for a few laps.  There were some very hard efforts, especially slogging through the sand sections.  I exited them once or twice seeing stars.  I was able to get around Justin on the stair climb and I pushed hard to catch Julian, who had gotten away but was still in sight.  Julian didn't slow down, but Justin fought his way back and later put in a strong attack that I couldn't match.  I found myself riding alone for a couple of laps.  Where the course doubled back, I could see Don, Walt and Tobin all together at the front.  I was looking at an 8th place finish, so my series lead was now in the hands of the two youngsters battling the old pro.  I usually root for Don to win, as he has such history in cyclocross and cross country racing and continues to race so hard, but I have to admit I was silently hoping for him to have a "fabulous" third place finish.

I slowed quite a bit on my last lap and Sean Estes made a good attempt to run me down, but I finished 8th and learned that Don had finished 3rd.

It's always fun to race a complete series.  There are so many factors that go into the final outcome and it depends often on the right combination of results from others.  I thought back to a few races where I had had mechanical issues that cost me precious points, and also to others that fell to the same problems.  I'm not the fastest 'cross racer in the area this year, but my consistency paid off.  It was nice to finish my season on a positive note and win the first NorCal CX Series.  I did win an awesome Kuat bike rack and I guess I'll get a front row call up at the first race of the series next year!

Aftermath:  I weighed my bike, unwashed, after the mud had dried.  It had an extra 4.5 lbs of dirt still on it.