We didn’t sleep much the night before the state championship cyclocross race. I could blame it on my kids, but the nerves were striking my stomach harder than the knees and toes of my six year old. Cyclocross may be considered niche to some. Still others like myself find it a spiritual experience. We push ourselves to near cardiac failure while at the same time writing poetry with every off camber turn into the wet surface below.

In the week leading up to the race I got an email from Joel S. (San Francisco Crossniacs Syndicate) writing that he had a plan.  Joel’s idea was to rent a 17 foot truck keeping us shielded from the snow. The truck worked to perfection for warm-ups and we became a central social point during the races as well. I loved having buddies from birchwood stop by and use the truck as a drinking hole for the day. The propane heater made us all comfy in the 27 degree, 12 mile per hour windy, snowy day.

The whistle blew and nine months of preparation were off and spinning. I did pre-ride the course but I forgot to pre-ride the start! So even having effortlessly won the hole shot I had no idea where I was going and was forced to sit back and follow in fourth place during the first half lap. Mitch Nordal and Charles Simacek of Freewheel were off the front as usual and tough to keep pace with.

Each lap coming through the stairs was intense. The spectators were loud and furious as always. My heart rate was shooting through the roof every time I jogged those stairs. Love the drum core too. That was a nice touch.

My goal for the day was top ten in a field of 68 CAT 3 riders. Heading into the last half of the last lap I was sitting 15^th and knocking ever so slightly on the doors of that goal when suddenly I went down hard on the asphault iced over section before the mini LGR barriers. Five guys flew by and now I was 19^th with about twenty seconds left.

Ped had a great vision in the creation of this course. One key feature that I always look forward to at Bassett Creek is the flow of the off camber turns. A lot of our local courses have twisty stuff, but often they are not at speed and don’t come with differing amounts of elevation. It seemed to me that Ped dialed these corners to perfection and forced the racers to navigate the turns at speed. Fun times and we will see you there 12 months from now.