10/30/05

Taken from my post on the RBR CX forum:

Heres a NorCal report: Grass Valley CX part of the Sac Series #8 of 9.

Mens C:

I heard before showing up that the course was mtn bike friendly. Something i dont get too excited about (why have a cross bike if a mtn bike is the weapon of choice?) My start time was at 9:45a. I began my preriding at 8:45 after reg'ing. There was a short gradual uphill on pavement, then a sharp right onto dirt, a triple uphill barriers (and the hill continued past the last barrier so it seemed better just to run the whole thing), then some ups and downs, a log on an uphill, a steep run up a levee of sorts and then back down the same really steep levee, some quick turns and some more ups and downs, then a double barrier, a fast section including a 180 turn on cement and back to the start we are.

i got to the line 5 mins early, took front row, and all the sandbaggers were there----when you win 3 out of 4 times (the other time being a 3rd) youre a sandbagger--upgrade dude. I didnt get a good jump off the line, maybe about 6th going onto the singletrack. then after say 2 laps got caught by two guys. with 2 laps to go, i saw one guy take a major spill going down the steep descent, then the guy in front of me stacked it right on top of him it looked like. so i decided to run down the steep descent and remounted at the bottom. i got caught by the two guys behind me. coming into the 180 cement turn a guy on a mtn bike took the inside line and shot past me too fast, then slammed on his brakes, his front wheel locked up, his rear wheel came off the ground, and he went off the road but stayed up (my heart was up in my throat a bit, because ive seen enough guys go down right in front of me in road racing to know what can happen when it does). Made my way around him, and fought off the guys behind me and came ever so close to one of the guys whom passed me mid race. took a 7th overall out of 22. i think im like 4th overall in the C's pts series. Awards went down to 9th in the Mens Cs and i got 2 single serving Clif powder, a clif bar and a clif shot. Then went to Nevada City and walked around with my girlfriend on a nice sunny crisp day in Northern Cal.

good job all
jeremyb