Quick and Dirty

Hey sicko, get your mind out of the gutter. This is about bike racing. And some other stuff.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Yar! I got the first place necklace today!

I started today out thinking I'd be racing for 2nd place- I did a lap with the newly healed but still lightning fast AJM before our race and got to hear a little about his 2(!) top five finishes last weekend at Starcrossed. However, the Rock Lobster numbers were not in his favor and with the likes of Dave Wyandt and Aron O'dell on my side I was figuring we could hopefully make things tough for him.

The course was... interesting. I went out last night and spent some time with Brian the promoter trying to help him do the most with what he had to work with... Todays course wasn't totally to my liking, but Brian took some critical suggestions to heart and made a pretty raceable track for us. White's Hill school is on a small patch of land and although there are some good features for a cross course, but it's pretty tight and there are some very awkward spots that can't be avoided in order to use all the land at his disposal. Although there were a lot of places that spectators had to walk across the course, there were some vigilant marshalls who did their job well and to my knowledge there were no collisions as a result.

After a bit of joking around with Casey at the start (ok guys, there's not a safe part to this course and it's early in the season so just take it easy... oh, and by the way, $500 for the winner...) Casey tooted his whistle and off we went. I knew that after the wide open grassy start there was a very tight spot before the first tricky off-camber so I went out hard. I got to the off camber first and rode it clean as I heard a few curses and the sound of tires loosing traction so I gassed it.

Soon enough, I was out front with a pretty sizable gap to Andy who was being shadowed by Dave and Aron. This is a nice way to start things off- I didn't kill myself, but I was riding easily around the technical parts. I think I was out there for 4 laps till Andy brought me back. I was glad he didn't attack me too hard right then and it was managable to ride with him. We rode around for a few laps while the cheers went a bit like: "Go Andy, Go Santa Claus!". Don't worry, I will soon disassemble my beard, and you'll all be sorry!

We rode till 2 to go and Dave made an attack that seemed to stick. I rode on Andy's wheel till we got to the technical parts where I'd pass him so I could slow things down for Dave. My hope was to let Dave get a gap, then attack Andy when Dave was clear. Dave dropped his chain as he went over a barrier though, and we caught him as he was remounting his bike.

Here was where I felt the pressure of the race again... I was pretty happy to let Dave get the win and then try for second. Now it was my turn to try and I figured that Andy would unleash his fury at any time. As we approached the soccer fields, I knew that I had to lay it down. Incredibly (to me) this worked and I arrived at the far side of the field in front of Andy still! I knew that from this point to the finish it would be very hard for Andy to pass me. He tried, but I was ready and it didn't happen. I didn't crash and sealed the deal for my 3rd win this year. I was genuinely thrilled to put my hands up for this one!

It was really fun to win a race like this when I didn't think I could. I'm happy with my fitness and I'm enjoying the new experience of getting to try for the win each weekend. I had a great time racing with my teammate Dave Wyandt, we work well together and I think we can both have some more wins this year. There was a lot of excited spectators and kids at this race who seemed to really enjoy the spectacle.

I hope I can try for the win again tomorrow at CCCX. I believe The Clown (Wicks) will be in attendance so if I'm lucky he'll have a bad day like Andy had today... although he'll probably still win even if he does.

7 Comments:

At 8:56 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Good job Santa!

 
At 9:44 PM, Blogger norcalcyclingnews.com said...

that's good stuff.

keep the rides coming, dj.

 
At 10:42 AM, Blogger Brent said...

whip it..
Leave the beard, just reduce the thickness Sampson. Gods of cross will forgive you.

 
At 2:26 PM, Blogger jAndy donka-donk said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 
At 2:26 PM, Blogger jAndy donka-donk said...

Great ride Josh......

nice to see you back and on top!!!

 
At 2:29 PM, Blogger jAndy donka-donk said...

and don't listen to Brent, the beard is siiiik

Just think if you wait till nationals to remove it, all of a sudden you will be climbing like the wind with all the extra weight loss......

 
At 4:23 PM, Blogger Barb said...

Thanks guys!

Unfortunately, Barb is making me shave off the beard. I'm going to draw out the process though, and I'll shave in some really ridiculous beard/moustache styles.

I'm actually sporting a really silly mutton-chops beard now, I should get some photos.... I'll keep it for pilarcitos at least.

 

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