Norcal CX Series, Race #1 in San Jose

[Jim Hewett]

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 not gone well for me due to some mechanical issues, but I had been in the mix enough to see that there are some racers starting the season with good fitness.  I am in a training period right now, so I am going into the weekends with some fatigue in my legs.  Also, I rarely bring my son with me to races.  I was a little worried this would interfere with my preparations, but I was also excited to have him with me.

Simon is only four years old, but he has been on two wheels since he was two.  He rides a 20" 1x6 mountain bike that weighs much more than my race bike, especially rough relative to his 55 lbs.  In the last month, he has realized that he can climb and descend bigger hills and we have been riding trails together a lot in Marin. 

Simon's race started at 12:10.  He lined up with the big kids (6-9 year olds?), a number plate pinned to his Superman t-shirt.  The modified short lap took them up the hill and they had to negotiate the loose off-camber traverse that lead to the roughest descent of the adult course.  I saw Simon slip and crash a few times, so I ran up the hill to help.  As I picked him up from the ground, I felt his heart beating at over 200 bpm.  He was pumped with adrenaline and ran down the hill where he remounted and took off right away.  He struggled with the barriers, but kept pushing and finished strong.  We assessed the damage:  a scrape on the elbow and knee, which he proudly shrugged off as standard racing fare.  He then moved into the bouncy house while I did a pre-ride lap to check out the course.

I had thought the 35+ A racers looked kind of casual on their last laps.  After I rode a couple of laps of the course, I realized that they were probably just worn out.  This was going to be rough!

The first short climb was up a paved hill to a roundabout, where we then descended some loose, off-camber corners to more of the same.  There was a short steep climb that had an off camber approach.  It was rideable, but tough.  We then rode a paved trail up a few switchbacks and through more corners to another climb that took us on some flat fire road around a bumpy field.  After this, we encountered our first barrier, just before a loose climb.  This climb and the one that followed were called the "Two Bitches" and were pretty tough for a 'cross course.  After this we were able to recover a little on a long straight descent to the aforementioned loose, off camber traverse to loose descent.  Some more bumpy trail lead to a couple of sets of barriers and then to the finish. 

Lap times would average over 7 minutes, and the hot weather and lack of shade would be a factor in the last laps of the race.  I followed last night's Osmo Preload Hydration bottle with another just before the race and had some cold Active Hydration in the bottle on the bike.  I was pleased with my choice of a light 29er rigid bike, which would give me a little more grip and comfort on the loose and bumpy course.

We lined up early and baked in the sun for 10 minutes.  I had preregistered for the whole series and got a front row call up.  I knew that this was going to be important, as early classes had backed up a lot in the corners after the paved climb.  There were a lot of fast guys there, though none of them had as good of a start position as mine.  Keith HIllier, Walt Brush, and Derek Yarra had all had a good race the weekend before, so I knew they would be looking to build on that.  Aaron Bradford was making the scene, fresh off of his long Enduro racing season.  Don Myrah, Scott Chapin, and newcomer Peter Lucas all were potential threats.

We blasted off and hustled up the paved climb.  I quickly moved up to second, behind a Rock Lobster rider, avoiding the potential problems of the rest of the field negotiating the corners.  I gassed it up the short steep climb and up the paved switchbacks.  I think Walt had caught up with me and we both passed the Rock Lobster rider.  I was leading, but riding a pretty conservative pace through the corners and on the flats.  I turned it up a little on the climbs, but Walt was just behind me.  We both jumped the barrier and climbed the Two Bitches on the bikes:  dismounting and running up didn't even seem like an option if you wanted to stay in front group.  Keith Hillier caught up to us pretty quickly and we three put some distance between us and the rest of the field.  I led for the first couple of laps, but Walt and Keith came around me just before the Two Bitches on lap three.  I hopped the barrier but drifted into Keith's rear wheel, where I dismounted rather than hit him.  They turned it on up the climb, pedaling while I ran, and opened up a surprising gap by the long fast descent.  I was a little deflated by this, but I knew the race was going to be long and our lap times were going to slow before it was over, so I rode within my limits and persevered.

My race memory is a little hazy on the order, but over the next two laps I passed both of them while they dealt with mechanical problems.  Walt flatted and switched bikes (to a singlespeed) and Keith had rear derailleur shifting issues.  I kept the pace pretty consistent, and by lap 5 (of 9) I was riding by myself off the front with a decent gap.  I was feeling the heat and the climbs, but the buffer was enough for me to relax a little and just ride at my pace.  It was great to see Simon cheering for me every lap as I came through the finish area.  I could see Keith and Walt going back and forth, and also see that Peter Lucas had moved into fourth and was threatening Walt.  I finished the race in over an hour, by myself and happy to have the first race of the series in the bag.