Surf City

The Surf City races are awesome. I wish I was a different sort of person who was not embarrassed to dress up, get drunk in front of strangers, heckle people faster than me, and so on. It would be even more fun then I bet. I also wished I lived across the street from every race venue in California. That would boost my level of enjoyment even more since I am getting pretty jack of driving so much.

Friday and Saturday we drove a lot - and I don't want to talk about it. I was committed to racing since I had offered Geoff a ride, so I called him and made arrangements. I got to sleep in a bit and that helped a lot. I picked up Geoff and we arrived to the course without incident and in plenty of time to warm up. I did some riding on the road and then some laps of the course. The kids race was before ours so I watched the cute little ones have a go at the modified track. There was a girl in a tiger outfit on a like-a-bike that I wanted to put in my pocket and take home.



We lined up for the race and I was far back, but on the outside left. The whistle blew and I steamrolled up the outside holding my position with elbows and forearms and managed to be pretty close to the front going into the hairpin bottleneck. I had a good first lap or two, then I hit a wall. Not literally, but I started slowing waaaaaaay down and lost contact with the people in front of me. I accidentally shifted my front shifter remounting after the run up and I stalled out for a bit getting it back on. A couple people passed me and the race was basically over. I just tried to hold position and not die or anything. I felt good on the "hard" parts like the climb up to the school yard and the long slow rise to the hairpin - ball fields. The grass was a killer but I felt like I was railing the spiral and holding good speed. I was able to pass people there. It was a good day and I guess I ended up 27th out of 99. 99! Wow, that is hecka people. I'll take it.

I wish I had more of the "hanging out" gene or something. I always just feel like getting out of there and getting home even though the weather is nice and the people are friendly. I don't know what it is...


Thanks lynester and Mark for the photos.