Take Me Down to Surf City

Vertical Pandas tripped down to Soquel for Surf City Cyclocross last weekend. Men's Category B swelled with riders as the start left a film of dust on all except those able to get out on the front (Mark looking nice and clean before lunch while the rest of us looked like we just finished our shift at the mine.) The first lap stayed together with pile ups at every dismount and tight corner. I ended up riding with and finishing with a group from Team Oakland/Kaiser Permanente in 56th place out of 73. Although I dropped my chain once, I raced well, stuck to the wheels in front of me and even picked off a few places (though it should be mentioned that two of the gentleman racers were sharing a beer when I passed them.) I am a big fan of the "Swirley of Mayhem" and the DJ's performance can be summed up as "rocking it." Mark and Chris finished 14th and 19th respectively while Stephen's flat tire resulted in a DNF. Mr. & Mrs. Shaw, Kate, Christine, Nora & Julie cheered from the sidelines and their presence certainly was felt and appreciated by the riders. Even Clark was there, and I could hear him shout "Go Pandas!"

After the race, we all stayed to watch a great Costume Cross ( http://surfcitycxresults.blogspot.com/ ) complete with Mexican superstar wrestlers, Santa and his sleigh, Unicorns, bulls & all other sorts of mayhem. Bikes on racks, we all headed for post race Mexican food. November 15th may be a good time for a little post race Bar-B-Q in the evening at Sierra Point - will keep you posted.

Next Up:
Rains begets mud; mud begets racing. This weekend will bring two races (Saturday in Santa Rosa and Sunday at Candlestick Park). I am not racing Santa Rosa, but will race Sunday.