Race Day Sunday - BASP #4 - Golden Gate Park

This was a hard-to-believe day of cyclocross racing for the end of November – we had beautiful sunny weather, great trail conditions (but not enough mud?) and a fantastic turnout.

We had more than 20 people out to support Team AC, including all families of the Petersons, Taylors, Howards, Foxes and Siegels, as well as Chad and Ian from Above Category, Jack French our team photographer/griller, Megan’s brother Chad, and our friends Heather and Jay (probably others that I also lost count of).

I know that several people had cameras, notably Jack French, Ken Howard and the Taylors, but all you get at this point are my very quick shots – here are photos from today:

http://picasaweb.google.com/glocalize/200811BASP4GoldenGatePark#

In addition to our usual suspects (Skyler, Alex, Spence, Bob, Bjorn, Isaiah, Blair and Tom Fox), Claire returned for more racing, and a new first timer, Cole (also from MV Middle School) decided to try his efforts at ‘cross. We had seven riders sporting Team AC colors, one of the largest (and most frequently heard over the PA) teams on the roster.

There was copious food for all, with special thanks to Meg who brought huge quantities of grilled chicken skewers, potatoes, sausages and other snacks. The Petersons brought all the barbeque equipment and the Team AC tent, and also loaded us up with sausages to keep everyone well fed!

Results were as follows (as far as I can recall):

Junior Men - U18
Bjorn Fox – First Place (Leader’s Jersey)
Isaiah Rapko – Third Place (mechanical)
Cole Campton – finished his first cyclocross race!

Junior Men – U14
Spence Peterson – First Place (Leader’s Jersey)
Bob Siegel – Second Place (tied for lead in series)
Alex Howard – Third Place
Skyler Taylor – Fourth Place

Masters Men 45+ B’s
Blair Peterson – Fourth Place (jumped on podium during single-speed race!)

Women C
Claire Siegel – finished her SECOND cyclocross ever

Not sure about single speed – Blair finished pretty well, the boys just cruised it…
SO – our next outing is BASP #5 – next Sunday, December 7th at Coyote Point, San Mateo.

The championship race is on between Spence and Bob, Bjorn and Isaiah! Should be an exciting finale!

Prunedale - Manzanita Park CCCX race

Well, it was a quick morning (except for the 4 hours of driving ;-) but very successful.
The race was at Manzanita Park, Prunedale – about 2 hours South of Mill Valley (or 1:40 if I drive).

We had a partial turnout of the team members, but good success overall. Today because of the specific classes for this race, Spence and Skyler raced in “13 and under” and Bob and Isaiah raced in “18 and under” – so they were up against some BIG “kids” this time…

The course started and finished on an uphill paved road, which made the run to the first corner exciting at the start, and the uphill sprint at the end equally exciting.

Great riding by everyone, with (now usual?) stellar results:

13 and Under:
First Place – Spence Peterson (First in State)
Second Place – Skyler Taylor (Second in State)

18 and Under:
First Place – Isaiah Rapko (First in State)
Second Place – Bob Siegel (by about 6 inches on an incredible sprint finish) (Second in State)

The schwag included lots of strawberries again, along with “State Championship” medals for the top 3 finishers.

Pictures are up at http://picasaweb.google.com/glocalize/200811PrunedaleManzanitaParkCCCXRace#

This was an exciting race in watching how all of the boys outraced both the C Men and the bigger teenagers. Really impressive and their form really shows watching how they pace themselves and pass others throughout the race.

The weather was perfect – about 65 degrees and sunny, and the course had a lot more vertical than many recent races, plus a good runup.

Race night! BASP #3 - Sierra Point Cyclocross Bonanza

What a great event – the racing started at Sierra Point early afternoon, and continued into the late hours of the evening.

This time we had a special guest racer – Claire (our daughter) on her FIRST ever ‘cross race. She had not been on her mountain bike in months, but went for it anyway, and did Team AC proud! Several different races and racers – the boys did the Junior race (U18 for Bjorn & Isaiah and U14 for Spence, Alex, Skyler and Bob), Claire did Womens’ C race, Blair did Men’s 45+ and Tom Fox raced Men’s A (I think). Then Blair, Spence and Bob did the singlespeed race at night (it started around 9 PM).

So it was a long day/evening of racing, and barbequing – Jack French spent the day pulling double duty as photographer and griller. Can’t wait to see his photos from this one ;-) Ian Tuttle and a couple of his friends also came to cheer on the Team AC singlespeed squad, so it was a full house in the Team AC tent! We arrived a bit before 2 PM and stayed till past 11 PM.

Pictures of all this at http://picasaweb.google.com/glocalize/200811BASP3SierraPointNightCXRace# - but the photo quality of the night shots isn’t great.

Jack has uploaded some of his (excellent!) photos to Flickr – I suggest you check them out at
http://flickr.com/photos/jackfrench/sets/72157609601366990/

Now, the results:

Junior Men – U14:
First Place Bob Siegel (held on to the leader’s jersey)
Second Place Spence Peterson
Third Place Alex Howard
Fourth Place Skyler Taylor

Junior Men – U18:
First Place Bjorn Fox
Second Place Isaiah Rapko (keeps the leader’s jersey)

Women C:
Claire Siegel 29th Place (out of 37 – for her first race, with NO training!)

I didn’t capture Blair’s finish at the Men’s 45+ race but he seemed to do very well – maybe top 5?

The singlespeed race was a long (60 minute) grueling event and everyone was pretty wiped, but Blair actually looked surprisingly good at the finish!

It was a really fun event – the night racing is an excellent addition to the cross scene, and we were amazed by how warm it was (for mid-November, or for any time at that location). Everyone had a great time.

Sacramento CX Race - Discovery Park - NCNCA #3

Despite the rain last night, it was about perfect for the cross race today at Discovery Park in Sacramento. The park was a big, flat, grassy park with little to no climbing on the course.

The main challenges (according to the riders) were the tough handling in lots of switchbacks and chicanes, and a very treacherous tunnel that went from one half of the park to the other - it was filled with slippery mud, lots of sliding, long grass sections and both Bob and Alex crashed in it.

Overall, it was all about the boys again:

Isaiah Rapko - First Place
Bjorn Fox - Second Place
Spence Peterson - Third Place
Alex Howard - Fourth Place (including a crash) Bob Siegel - Fifth Place (including a crash AND a flat)

Blair Peterson also raced with the Big Dogs - Men's A class, including Ned Overend! He did great, and really hammered out a strong performance!

Here are pictures from today:
http://picasaweb.google.com/glocalize/200811DiscoveryParkRaceSacramentoCX4#

BASP #2 Cross Race - Nov. 2, 2008 - Candlestick Point - Team AC Rules Again!

Today it started rainy, but turned out great - fine results from everyone:

Junior - Under 14
Bob Siegel - First Place (Leader's Jersey)
Spence Peterson - Second Place (tied in points w/Bob)
Alex Howard - Third Place
Skyler Taylor - Fourth Place

Junior - Under 18
Isaiah Rapko - First Place (2nd Leader's Jersey)
Bjorn Fox - Second Place

Masters Men 45+
Blair Peterson - Second Place (fantastic race!)

Here is a link to the photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/glocalize/200811BASP2CandlestickPointCXRace#

The next race should be exciting to watch the battle for first within Team AC!