Sacramento Series CX report

By Erin Kassoy

Sacramento Cyclocross Blog

Some pictures...

The cyclocross season has arrived. It somehow seems
too early and warm for it to be cross season, but
that's California for you.

So Sat morning I drove up to Vacaville for a sunny,
dusty, hilly jaunt around the Lagoon Valley Park.
Warming up I seriously wondered what I was doing
there, as I frequently do before a race, but went
through the motions to get ready. My fella, Dario,
built up a bike last week and decided to join me. We
pre-rode together - It's always fun schooling a former
pro roadie through the barriers and technical stuff,
though he gets me back in a serious way any time it's
flat or uphill.

The A crowd was small, which was good for my nerves in
my first race of the season. It was nice to see Bella
Andi Mackie at the line. I had a great start and took
the hole shot with Colleen Wanty (Luna) on my wheel.
I then let her pull through the headwind section and
took back the lead prior to the one outrageously long
steep hill on the course. But I didn't have great
legs on the first lap and got passed up the climb.
Collen then opened up a gap never to shrink the rest
of the race (she did the men's A race too, crazy). So
I hung out in 2nd with no one visible behind me for
several laps but then I realized I was hungry, it was
getting really hot and they wouldn't let us feed, and
my back was killing me. Not sure if it was mental or
physical but I fell apart in the last two laps and got
passed by Sarah Maile near the end. So, I ended up
3rd for some gas money and the first race out of the
way. Andi finished up 4th.

After the race my legs and back were completely
wrecked but I slowwwly rode to various parts of the
course during the men's A race to cheer on Dario, who
finished 2nd in his first cross race in many years.
Yay!

Next up: Wednesday I leave for NY to join Anna and
Melanie at Southhampton, and then I head to Boston to
join the rest of the crowd at the USGP in Gloucester.