Surf City II Harbor High

 Without some key riders from the team able to make it to this race we were still probably the dominant team on the day. There were Bicycle Bluebook riders on nearly every podium. In the mens A race Scott Chapin got 3rd-definitely on his way up in the elite peloton. Andrew Juiliano was always near the front finishing 6th with both Kevin Crossley (9th) and Alex Work (10th) up there in the top-ten action. Zac Stanley finished on the lead lap in 22nd and Aaron Odell finished 26th.

 Katie Jay Melina rode a strong race at or near the front of the womens A race for seven punishing laps of the hilly course finishing 4th. Mary Ellen Ash finished with another top ten in 9th.

 Livia Perez got 3rd in the womens 35+  not missing a podium opportunity all season.

 Ariel Raymon seemed to like the diffcult and techincal track and finished 4th in the womens B race.

Here's the mens A podium.

Sean Coffey showed that he is one of the top Nor-Cal single speeders with a 3rd place in the single speed A race. We also had some great placings in the mens masters: Brian Staby in the mens 35 A race finished 9th, Frank Kalcic  in the 45 A race finished 21st, Mark Abele got the win of the day in the mens 55+ with me trailing in 9th, Brent Harris 12th and Rick Ortenblad having a mechanical that took him out of the race. One of the best rides of the day was Alan Bennett finishing 2nd in the mens 45 B race with Benoit Dubuisson following in 8th, Craig Ball in 12th and Michael Schaller in 25th.

Santa Rosa Cup I

 This flat bumpy race marked Matt Garcia's return to racing after a long summer of injuries. He would finishh 13th in the men's B field. In the men's 55+ field Brent Harris got 9th and I managed 7th. Frank Kalcic was our only other master rider and rode to 11th in the 45+ A field.

Ellen Sherrill had a strong race and used the turns to outdistance nearly all of the field finishing 2nd in the women's A race. Ariel Raymon would finish 5th in the women's B race.

 Brian Staby who normally rides in the 35+A field not only help put on the race but finished 12 in the men's A field.

 We had a visit from former team racer Joshua Snead , now sporting a beard much like Scott Chapin. Speaking of Scott, he would overcome a mid-pack start to finish 3rd for his best result of the season to this point.

Newest sponsor : Blackspire

 These chainrings and saddles will be on the elite teams bikes for 2013. I even get to try some and since my old chainrings were totally shot I was very happy when the box arrived.

I took off my old tattered saddle of the last four seasons:9 oz. I took out this new saddle: 9 oz. Well, I cna't blame extra weight from the saddle to explain not making the podium ! I'll be putting out a report on all this new stuff as will members of the team. Thanks, Blackspire !Glad that someone still makes a 130 BCD 46 ring !

CCCX IIII

Livia Perez has not done worse than 2nd in this race series. Here she is in 2nd on the podium in the womens 35+

 In the womens A race Katie Jay Melina led it out and hung on for 3rd while Ellen Sherrill attacked from the back and passed the field with a win.

Mark Abele continued his great run at CCCX with a 2nd place in the mens 55+. Although he's not there on the podium due to a error in the results, Ric Ortenblad was in 5th.

 You never know who is going to step up from the team and have a great ride in the mens A race. This time it was Aaron Odell in 2nd, his best result of the season so far.Ben Dodge followed in 6th place with a good ride.

 Scott Chapin was suffering on the single speed two days in a row. Looks like the second day was probably a bit much but he finished 8th and was not lapped by the leader.

 Aaron Odell in solo 2nd on the last lap.

 Having passed the 7th place rider, Ben Dodge was in pursuit of the 5th place rider and almost caught him.

Kailin Waterman rode to 6th in the single speed A category.Benoit Dubuisson got 3rd in the mens singls speed B category and Allan Bennett got his first ever CCCX podium in the mens 45+ B category in 3rd.Michael Schaller followed at 8th place.

San Jose Cougar CX

 Tim Watson not only created a great buffey lunch for the team, he managed to get the only podium of the day-3rd in the masters 45 + race.

 Mary Ellen Ash was in the top ten in the Womens A race until with two laps to go flatted a rear tire and had a very long walk to the pit.

 Ellen Sherrill looking serious as hell and having a good race finishing 4th in the Womens A race.

Aaron Bradford getting re-aquainted with CX racing......he didn't fall and finished 5th in the Mens A race. Kevin Crossley looked to be having a great race until he flatted and had a long wait for a front wheel.

 Scott Chapin showint that if you don't like the barriers you can just ride around them......he would finish somewhere near the top 10. Alex Work was a couple places behind and Aaron Odell flatted out and found his spare bike had a flat as well......bad luck was not uncommon at this race. Kailin Waterman and Benoit Dubuisson would abandon for various reasons as would a number of other racers.

 Brendan Lehman, alias 'shreddlocks' had a decent race and pulld up a few places in the closing laps of the Mens A race.

Check out the Norcal CX website for all the placings. For a new venue, this Montgomery Hill park wound up being a real interesting track-maybe not a traditional CX race , but this is Nor-Cal and you have to be ready for anything.