from John Elgart, Voler Northern CA rep
Lange Twins CX, Dec 18
Result: 1st out of 8 in the 55's
Lange Twins Winery again hosted the Sacramento CX, and this time the weather cooperated to create those epic conditions that crossers rave about to the befuddlement of their friends. Mud was found in every form, from wheel swallowing puddles of river water to adobe that was mixed with "seaweed" binding.
By the time I raced, at 1 in the afternoon, the rain was a steady drizzle. But at least it was warm -- 56 degrees. 56 may not sound warm for roadies, but when you are running with a bike on your shoulder in
foot deep mud, you do generate a lot of heat. I was in the 55's racing behind the B's -- the 45's and 35's at 1 and 2 minutes. After a wind up on the pavement, we were on a series of slick sidehill turns and ride ups that were turning to slick mud oatmeal. Most of the little up hills had been easy to ride in warmup. In the race they become totally impossible. Running I sank in a foot in places. Easy corners became dismounts. Little puddles mysteriously deepened, leading to surprise endos and splash downs. The grass was plowed under along with traction.
Eventually I worked my way through most of the B's and held off 2nd placer Rick Timossi and 3rd John Slavonic. (BTW, I learned today that John was on the Olympic Race Walking team in the 80s.)
In the A's Jeremy Ferguson held off legendary Don Myrah to win. GiantStrawberry Jesse Moore was 3rd.
Lange Twins is a great host to Sac CX with wood fired pizza oven, coffee, cookies and, of course, wine tasting.
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