1 Attachment(s)
Lagoon Valley Cyclocross, 9/24
I'm itching to read E2the D's ride report for this race. ;) hint...hint
She might be pretty busy, so I thought I'd write about my experience as a newbie bike race spectator.
The day started at 9:30am. I got my best friend (we got our bikes and started riding at the same time last Thanksgiving) to go along with me. Lagoon Valley park in Vacaville is about a 1 hour drive from San Francisco. At the park, there was a fairly large parking lot just steps away from where the start of the races would be. We wandered through the parking lot and for the first time saw all sorts of cyclocross bikes, and some mountain bikes. I like seeing semi rare bikes, so it was interesting to see a Rock Lobster. Among the most numerous makers were Bianchi and Felt.
First up for the day were the men's C's. At that point I didn't quite get how it was all orchestrated, but the riders ride laps around the course which consisted of a short straightaway, a turn, two barriers, a few more turns (I didn't walk that part of the course, so I'm not quite sure what was back there), a good climb, a fairly steep descent with a turn and then a curb at the bottom, a few more turns along the trail, a sharp descent and ascent into a creek gully up into another curb, and a couple of more turns back to the start.
E2theD's race started at 10:45. Kim from Velogirls (who I think might be on the boards?) was also in the race. It was fun to watch a race when someone we are acquainted with was in it. I'll let E or Kim share more about their experience.
The Men's A's were interesting to watch as they took the course faster and appeared to glide over some of the hills and bumps. Here is a picture of the men's A's that I took. This is the descent that goes into a turn and then up over a curb. We saw one spill here, but that fellow got right back up and finished quite decently.
I took some other pics that I'll let E2the D share. :)
If anyone is remotely intrigued by cyclocross, I definitely recommend going to see a race. It's educational and inspirational to see what the riders can do with their bikes.
