I raced the final ‘cross race of the season last Sunday. What was unique about this course was that it was on the beach at Camp Pendleton. The description of the course stated that there were two 75 foot sandy sections that would force you to dismount. What they failed to say was that those two sections were connected by about quarter mile of beach. The waves were literally lapping up against your tires as you rode. I really hadn’t been training so I got killed. It was ugly. I knew that was going to happen, but I had decided to race because I wanted to continue to test the SRAM Rival group. This time I left my Scott bike at home and tested the group on a Cannondale Cyclocross CAAD 9 Optimo. With sand coating most surfaces of the bike, the Rival group came through with no problems, even after I tripped over a barrier, dumping the bike. Tim Johnson would have been so embarrassed! When I got home I had to hose the bike off and re-lube all the parts. I did a quick lap around the block to see if everything was still shifting and, like a champ, it still did. I’m going to head up to the Fullerton Loop sometime this week and abuse it a little more.

Still shifting like a champ

Tim (Art Director at ROAD) says my car stinks of sweat. I told him that’s what training smells like. Regardless, I’ve been packing my stinky post-racing clothes in the Super Shuttle duffle in an effort to de-funk the Scion. You strap the duffle to the roof rack rather than having your clothes stink up your car. I drove 80 miles at excess of the posted speed limit with no worries.