blue sky z 11-14-2010

Returned to racing single speed cross at the Blue Sky (or not) race in Euclid. I like it much better than using a junky hodge podge sis setup. The course was well balanced, switch backs, a spiral of death, some technical mazey turns, mud, a hill run up, some long power sections and lots of off camber stuff. At Blue Sky I reached a few personal firsts

• successfully and repeatedly remounting of the bike by doing the jump and land your bum on the saddle technique, instead of the normal stagger and throw one leg over
• first top 10 finish this season
• first time I raced with 'low' tire pressure around 35 psi I assume, I didn't have any tool to measure
• firs post race puke.. this season

the low tire pressure made all the difference in the world! no joke. Forever I blew off riding low pressure as a fallacy and myth. Was I ever wrong. Go figure the Ritchey Speedmax tires which I have so often cursed worked wonders when properly inflated...

the saddle jump was something I didn't do on every remount but I made it on several. That too makes a world of difference. My typical technique is that if I'm near (within a 1/4 or so of the course) an approaching set of barriers is to just hang back behind the group that I'm trying to catch and then go full tilt into the barriers do a running like a bat out of hell dismount to pass everyone. Adding the saddle jump just made the only thing I'm fast at doing even faster. awesome.

puking sucked but the last time I made top ten in a race I booted it as well.

Even though I hit the deck probably four times throughout the race I felt great never gassed or unable to catch my breath, and passed tons of racers (for once). Only one person passed me after I had wrecked and gotten myself tangled in the tape, subsequently spending the rest of the race trying to unsuccessfully catch him. Needless he finished 14 seconds ahead of me, about the time I spent in the tape. I don't know what the secret was this race. I felt and rode great and it seemed like the majority of the field was just the opposite. I'm gonna call this one luck, I think some of the top B series racers were no shows and everyone else just had a bad start or something ... i dunno

interestingly enough this race I finished 4 minutes and 24 seconds behind the lead and took 9 place in a field of 44, and in the kent stark race I also finished 4 minutes and 24 seconds behind the lead but took 22 out of a field of 44.