The terrific weather this weekend resulted in a pretty large turnout
at the CCCX race on Sunday. The sandy soil at Fort Ord was in great
condition for racing. Lots of singletrack on a 5-mile course that
wound it's way through the trees and bushes. As usual the pace was
fast from the gun and stayed that way.

I arrived for the Expert race about 90 minutes before the start.
After signing-up and placing the number on my bike, I realized I had
forgotten by helmet and jersey. What a dumb-a$$. Luckily, I had
everything else to ride, including a short-sleeve base layer tee to
use as a jersey. I figured I could borrow a helmet from one of the
TWWers racing Sport. Except that there were none. Oh well. Miss Mary
from VB generously loaned me her Giro and I was set to go.

The race started 30 minutes late while we all stood around in the
sun. My goal was not to finish DFL in the Expert 45-54 category.
After the spin up the road to the dirt, I was next to last. Just
before reaching the finish pagoda, less then 10 minutes into the
race, I had to stop and repair my front brake. Both pads were
pressing firmly on the rim because the cable-housing had caught on
one of the stem faceplate bolts, pulling the cable tight. Weird. By
this time everyone in my group was long gone, and the Expert women
also had passed.

OK, so my modest race goals remained, but the challenge for me at
that point was to keep my head into it and maintain a hard enough
pace to at least get some good training. I had about 3-1/2 consistent
laps, after which the pros started creeping-up and began lapping me
towards the start-finish. At least I didn't have to think about
getting lapped on my last circuit.

I fininshed as the course was being torn down. 10th out of 12 (two
DNFs). Yoo-hoo! I plan on being back down there this Saturday. The
trails are dry and firm. If you're thinking about tires, I recommend
something fast but with enough knobs to corner quickly.

-Rich