BASP #5 - the Finale - Coyote Point

The biggest (racing) turnout for Team AC this time, as we had 8 racers in all (including myself, my FIRST cyclocross race ever ;-)

It was cold and foggy, and temperatures were down in the 50’s for most of the day, but the sun peeked out at the end, after the Single-speed race was over.

Lots of photos, and more to come, as Jack French was there doing his usual stellar job, joined by Ken Howard with his camera.

Here are the photos captured on our camera:
http://picasaweb.google.com/glocalize/200812BASP5CoyotePointCyclocrossFinal#

As for the results, almost everyone wound up on the podium, except for a couple of us n00bs (me and Claire) but we were happy with our results too…

Junior Men Under 18

Isaiah Rapko – First Place, and First Place for the BASP series!

Junior Men U14
Spence Peterson – First Place - a hard fought race between Spence and Bob, with Spence crossing the finish line 4 seconds ahead of Bob. Spence won the race, and the series, and some nice Schwag including Sheila Moon jacket and hat, and some other goodies.

Bob Siegel – Second Place – he was out there gunning for the win and the series win, and almost had it at the end, but finished with a strong second place (two first places, and three seconds) for the race, and the series. Also some good schwag at the end!

Alex Taylor – Third Place – he rode a good strong race, and finished consistent with the other races, third today, and third for the series.

Skyler Taylor – Fourth Place – looking stronger today than in the past, Skyler powered ahead of the much bigger U14’s and took a solid fourth today, and in the series.

Men’s Masters 45+ B
Blair Peterson – when we talked afterwards, Blair had felt down on power today, so wasn’t happy with his eight place finish, but he took home Fourth Place in the series against a number of strong riders he’s been battling all season long! Looks like it will be Masters A 45+ next season for Blair!

Rich Siegel – I completed the race, and passed some guys during the race, though I was re-passed later. I’m pretty sure I was last, but since I raced Men’s B and not Men’s C, I was very happy with the result. I had a great time doing the race and am looking forward to more in the future!

Special Mentions – to Nicole Taylor and Julia Howard who brought a bounty of sausages, eggs, and other snacks for our hungry group today, to Megan Siegel for doing the same during the past couple of races, to Jack French for his dual skills of photography and grilling, and to ALL the parents of the Team AC boys for all of their tremendous support this season! Really a fun group to hang out with and I look forward to our upcoming Mountain and Road biking seasons in 2009!

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.