Bumper cars under the lights

Two weekends ago the local cyclocross scene for the first time switched to a night race. It was somewhat disconcerting loading up the car and picking up a teammate as the sun was going down. It was hard not to get more excited than usual as we entered the venue and saw racers battling it out under the lights.



A big crowd had come up to cheer us on. After a solid warm-up (yes it is important for me), and an excellent start I had the best effort of the season on the short, fast and well lit course. Some friends (thanks Willem and Anna) yelling at me on every lap helped loads !

I had a few problems early in the race and again near the end getting tangled up with lapped riders otherwise I would have finally achieved my sought after top-ten finish. I ended up with a 12th, only 1:18 back from the winner so all in all an excellent race.

This Sunday is the annual Golden Gate Park race which is always fun and well attended by racers and spectators. Next weekend I travel up to Portland for the Grand Prix races in what is usually epic cross conditions.

The cross season is drawing to a close, time for mid-week recovery rides and putting the throttle all the way down on the weekend races.