Team BEER

Psycho Cross 2008 was good old fun time this year. The fact that Team BEER had a good showing made it an even better time. Eric, Audrey, Agi, Dave, and Devin were all on hand.

Again Velo Bella put together a top notch course and well run event. The day ran smooth with plenty of broadcasted announcements, and written postings of start times. Little things like that keep races on time and allow the momentum to build throughout the day. The course featured a good balance of flat land riding, Velcro grass, loose turns, tough ride ups, and challenging run ups.

I would consider the Velo Bella course to be hard. It’s not a flatlander paradise, but there are some good chances to really open it up, rev high, and feel the breeze blow through the helmet. Then there are those parts where your legs feel deadened with effort, and your not sure about if you can go fast on the next lap. Sprinkled throughout the course are some parts that are plain fun, and they occur when you need them. At the end of the day you feel whipped with a smile on your face. If it was stupid hard, then you would just feel whipped, and not have a smile. Even though my arms feel exhausted, my lower back is a little stiff, and my legs are a bit sore, I can truly say I had a great time.

All right, lets get on with what the team did. Dave Albut took his stab at the B’s race yesterday, and he was pleased with his race. As he progressed through his Coors light he became more pleased with the day in General. Eric and Audrey championed the costume race as a pair of midnight bandits, and I do believe their bags were full of beer. Agi committed to her first race in the Women’s C’s. Her effort earned her spot number 13, in a very full group. Devin hit up the Men’s A’s race at the same time Eric and I rounded the grounds on our Single Speeds.

I managed to get some bottom rung podium time at 4th place in the single speed race. When Sabine made the announcements for placing and teams, she did it perfect. “And in fourth place, racing for BEER, Jim Macdonald.” Perfect!!! Why? Because BEER was a prize.

Devin Avery scores the first win for Team BEER this season in the A’s race at Livermore.   “Even though it was a small field, it was good racing. It was cool to be in the lead group and have to contest a sprint for the finish. The highlight was the Rock Lobster guy (Jeff) slowing down to let me catch back on after I layed it down. I would like to think that I could of caught back on regardless, since I didn’t loose that much ground, but it was a classy move none the less.”

Good work Devin!

The second round of hilly courses on the silly single speed bikes went much better with proper gearing.  It’s not like having a 40×19 made it easy to romp right up the hills, but they were manageable.  The smaller gearing made it possible to settle in and slug away to the top.  The Green Kona will remain set up with the 42/40 chain rings up front and the flip flop 17/19 cogs in the rear.   The upside to this setup is the brake pads will not have to be adjusted if the bike is, manually, shifted from the 42×17 to 40×19.  (Drop 2 teeth in the front, gain two teeth in the rear, and the wheel remains in the same chain tension position.

We arrived a little later than I hoped, and things felt rushed.  I think we need to allow 30 more minutes to find parking and make our way to the race site.  (We are really spoiled with ease of parking here in Sacramento.)  My course recon consisted of a half lap looksy while the Master A’s were lining up on the grid.  All in all, the course was similar to previous years, but the climbs were in reverse order.  The reverse order seemed to tame the hills a bit, and that’s fine with me considering my climbing workouts consist of my two freeway overpass crossings on the way to work.

After the course recon, it was time to try and warm up on this paved road.  It was cold yesterday, and the laps on the paved service road helped only a little.  The sun never came out, and I couldn’t really ever get warmed up.  Lesson learned. All pre-race packing will now consider 45 degree weather.

My placing from last year’s series, earned my spot number 10 on the call up list, and the spot on the line was great. The start of the race came as a surprise really.  They told us 30 seconds after the A’s, but it seemed like 10.  We heard the whistle but no one moved.  Then we realized that was the start.  GO!!!

I punched it and won the race to the top of the hill.  Some of the faster guys passed me, and I was ok with that.  I knew they would get me on the hill anyway, so no need to clog them on the decent either.

After a few laps, things got very spread out, and there was no one ahead of me that I could see. There was one fellow coming up from behind, so I defended my position on the flats and kept him at bay on the climbs.  I think he got wore out, and I lost sight of him.  So, I switched modes back to safe upright riding, and avoiding pinch flats.  I can’t say I got to race anyone, but the effort felt great.  That course is tough one, so finishing 6th is greatly welcomed.