Another Wednesday evening of racing at the Summit Shorty. This night’s race had a couple of surprises.

More info here: http://www.summitmarin.com/

Dropped in at *the* party along the Tour of CA route and grabbed a little bit of footage as the race passed through.

Had a chance to attend and capture footage at race 3 of the 2012 Summit Shorty series.
Watch the beginner open (C), 35+, and women. Then a POV shot of the first lap of the intermediate open (B) 35+ category.

More info here: http://www.summitmarin.com/

Captured the start of the pro men’s and women’s cross country race starts.

Came across this mound of carpenter ants swarming outside their mound. This was on a cold morning up in Boggs demonstration forest near the town of Cobb, CA.

Just another late afternoon ride through Sibley Park. It’s that time of year when dodging cows and their pies are part of the ride.

Well, when this year’s stickers arrived, I sent some off to Ray in appreciation for the still used Go-No-Go bottle opener.

The stickers must have gone over well because Ray stepped up to the plate a batted out a home run with his next batch of Go-No-Go gauges. Behold the collection of FUCI laser-cut metal bottle openers and Go-No-Go CX tire gauges.

And I can say without a doubt that these gauges and bottle openers work efficiently, effectively, and exactly as you would expect. Quality at its finest.

If you ever need metal fabrication, laser cutting, or 3D printing(!) then look up Falso Industries.

And they are FUCI Approved!

Felt halfway alive on this one. The start was nice since we rolled down Bohemian and then over and down Hwy 1. This allowed me some time to warm up. When we hit the first steep longer climb a little after Jenner, I settled back and a large portion of the pack pulled away. I could have pushed it a bit harder to stick with them but I knew it was a long race and this climb connected with Meyers Grade which was even harder. So I kept a good RPM and spun up. At Meyers I continued with an even pace and started to catch a few riders.

Once on the ridge, with the rollers, I was alone and started pushing a nice pace. Came across another rider who jumped on my wheel. Then another that also joined. Lost both of them on the descent towards and down Timber Cove to Hwy 1. Headed north on Hwy 1 solo until the two of them caught me again. But then one of them dropped off and the other guy stuck with me which was nice. When we hit Kruse we did a quick pit stop then rolled onto the dirt. I was feeling good and liked the grade and dirt. So I settled into a nice pace and at some point lost the other guy. Well, he just disappeared on me since I was just focused on climb. Btw, I was riding with Continental 28 Gatorskins which were perfect for the potholes and dirt section. Great tires.

Popped up out of the last section of Kruse (ouch) and turned left onto the road towards Hauser Bridge. Passed an old team mate of mine, Steve Peleaz, who blew from the earlier effort.

Dropped down Hauser to the bridge, paused to watch the brown current, and then began the evil climb. Oh man that is a steep pitch at the start. But not as bad as I thought it would be. Passed another guy mid-way up. Continued at an even pace, watching my cadence, and finally rolled up to the top and where the sag wagon was hanging out. Grabbed another bottle. The guy told me 5 guys were just here. That motivated me to keep moving and possibly catch them. Oh, he also said, good job, no more big hills… ha! I guess he didn’t realize King Ridge is still a climb this direction.

Made sure to eat some more and drink. Kept the pace up on the rollers of the ridge. But couldn’t see the pack of 5 he mentioned. I kept rolling at an effort that I gauged would allow me to finish without blowing up on the last climb. Finally caught another rider but he just dropped off. Then another that rode a short bit but then fell off on the next little pitch. Then it was lonely time. All the way up to the top of the ridge I saw nobody.

Descending down King Ridge I came across nobody. Out through Cazedero to River Road it was me and a few cars that passed by. Down River to Moscow Rd, into the headwind, it was me alone. But I kept on sensing riders behind me.

Back on Moscow it was a nice tailwind. But nobody else.

Onto Bohemian and there was… nobody. My legs were now getting a little achy. Finished off the food I had and most of my drink. Pushed the pace but stayed seated and to keep the cadence up. I could feel a small bit of cramping when I stood and pushed a hard effort. And I kept getting that sensation of riders coming up behind. That motivated me.

At the final pitch up to Occidental I made a big push and then rolled into town to the finish.

Of the 51 or so starters, I rolled in a 31st with a time of 5:04. The leaders (Barry Wicks) finished in 4:08. I’m actually happy with my time considering how much I rode solo. And looking at the finish times of some of the other riders, I could see I was only 20 min or so behind those that I would think i should be finishing with. So overall I consider this a good day and happy with my result.

Changes I would make for next time would be easier gearing. I thought the 28 rear, up from 25, would be enough but I could have used more on Meyers Grade and Hauser. The rest of the time the gearing was fine. I also need to eat and drink more. Definitely didn’t have enough of either.

Thanks Mig and crew for another fun weekend “ride”.

Several of the race starts at Race #2 of the 2012 NorCal High School MTB League series.

First real attempts at capturing with my iPhone 4s.

A time-lapse view from the Berkeley High pit during race #2 of the 2012 NorCal High School MTB League series.

The view is of the “Pit Zone” with the start/finish off in the distance. You can spot the uphill start in the upper left. Started recording around 8am and stopped around 5pm.

Lots of wind, rain, some hail, and spots of sun during the day. One gust knocked the camera over (sideways shot).

Captured using my GoPro Hero2 in interval mode. One photo every 30 seconds.