Surf City & Stafford Lake Cyclocross races

     2 more races are in the books.  First was the Surf City Halloween Race at Aptos High School on October 30th with warm temperatures and blue skies.  Last time I raced there was about 5 or 6 years ago and the course was very different but super fun.  Essentially it was an uphill section and a downhill section with a bunch of flat sand separating the two.  I realized a long time ago that I'm not a natural bike racer so I need to really focus on how hard I go out and gauge my effort throughout the race.  Knowing I won't be challenging for the win I lined up at the back and planned to pace the pack as best I could.  As usual I made up most of my spots on the downhill and technical parts (I used to race downhill bikes) and got passed back on the uphill parts.  With 2 laps to go I was lapped by the leader at the line but to give you some idea how difficult the race was I still managed to come in just about mid-pack; 22nd out of 39 while only about the top 3rd finished on the lead lap..
    
     The inaugural Stafford Lake Cyclocross Race went off November 7th in Novato.  Conditions were perfect for cyclocross racing as we just had rain the day before while race day saw cool conditions and partly cloudy skies.  With the leaves turning and the holidays closing in it truly felt like 'cross season.  I was even feeling pretty good despite missing some training rides after crashing my GSX-R 600 during a track day at Infineon earlier in the week.
     However....
     I thought the Surf City course was tough until I went out for some warm up laps on this nightmare of a course.  I have to admit that the organizer did a great job and it had fantastic flow but it was a true suffer fest for me.  The course consisted of 2 sections; a flat section of bumpy grass, smooth double track and some pavement and a section that started off with a big stair climb, followed by a traverse across a hillside with off camber sections and some fun downhills.  There were 3 transitions with one being some sort of weird monstrosity of a box/barrier that would have UCI officials pressing criminal charges.  For me this race was just a exercise in attrition with the only real highlights being my sloppy launches over the box and a running sprint of a pass at the finish line that netted me 43rd of 56.
    
     While I still enjoy the torture of bike racing from time to time these races seem more like a test of suffering then a proper race against opponents.  The AFM season can't start soon enough for me...