The Bay Area CX season officially started this weekend in Livermore at LARPD #1! I checked the weather on Friday evening and it said it was supposed to be a toasty 85F at race time, but when I arrived at Robertson Park on Saturday morning it was overcast and cool… not really what I was expecting (Livermore has a reputation for being a furnace in the summer) but I’ll take it.
Half of the course was made up of grass corkscrews winding in on themselves and the other half was a mix of sandy trails and really fast hardpack. It was also overwhelmingly flat with about 10 ft. of elevation gain max through one section, which was just fine with me since I’ve never been much of a climber.
My race (Bs) was twenty strong; I got a crap start and had to work my way up though the pack before settling in with a group of guys of about my same fitness. Earlier in the week I had decided to just focus on having a clean, smart ride and staying upright, and for all intents and purposes that goal was accomplished - I took my pulls, battled a bit with a few guys and finished the race without cramping, which was a major problem for me last year. My ride certainly wasn’t a revelation, but I did feel fitter, faster and smarter than I did at the same time last year.
Overall the series opener was pretty well attended for an early-bird race in BFE East Bay. There were more than a few big guns out there, and the fields should only get larger. I guess LARPD isn’t much of a secret any more…
Leave it to me to sniff out the only mud hole in the entire parched town of Livermore.
chicanes
more chicanes
dusty and a tiny bit muddy
(Top two pics are courtesy of liveplayride, last one courtesy of my jerkphone)
You can get more info on the LARPD series here.
Good luck to everyone gearing up for the new season! I hope your first race was as enjoyable as mine was!
- Nick in SF
