Candle Stick Point

This afternoon I completed the second race of the Bay Area Super Prestige Cyclocross Series at Candle Stick Point. The venue was packed with riders from Northern California and it was nice to see new faces lining up at the starting line. Tom Simpson announced the top riders over the intercom and I was given a spot at the front of the line up since I placed second in the last race. There were 61 riders in the B class and people were pushing to the front for a better position because the first turn was a hair pin into an off camber section with lots of bumps and potholes. My teammate (Dave Pedersen) shot into the lead from the whistle and I followed behind into the flat section. I was a bit concerned because my train was late this morning and I did not have the chance to pre-ride the course, so I had to focus on memorizing the technical sections on the first lap. During the middle of the first lap I began to pull away from the main group with 3 other riders and we charged into the winding parts of the course and I rode all of the run-up sections. There was a strong headwind on the open sections of the course and I spent most of the time in the hoods - I usually ride the top portion of the bar using the "chicken" brake levers. This Candle Stick Point venue was set-up for spectators and many people were standing in the technical sections cheering as we pushed our physical limits. It's was amazing to ride the run-up into a tunnel of people cheering and waving flags above my head and it encouraged me to push harder. My heart rate finally adapted to the pace on the 3rd lap and I began to pull away from the remaining riders and never looked back. My teammates were amazing and I want to thank each one of them for the support and bottle exchanges. Dave and Nick placed well in the same race and our team did well overall in each category. Our women riders pulled off a 2nd and 5th place finish and are improving each race. This is going to be an amazing season and I look forward to more fantastic venues in the months to come. As for me - I will get to ride in the leaders jersey at the next race. The next race will take place at McLaren park in San Francisco and it's a mountain bikers dream course. There is a huge run-up called "the wall" and lots of technical down and up hill. I want to thank our sponsors for providing great equipment and Dave for organizing such a great team.

Thanks goes to Timbuk2, Felt Bicycles, Look, CCCX, Crank Brothers, Bike Connection and Vance Sprock and Shannon Patterson at Cupertino Bike Shop.

Also, to my family and friends and those who believe anything is possible.

In one of the pictures I had a little trouble pulling on the leaders jersey and it was a bit embarrassing.


Thanks for reading.