Turkey Trot

After dropping Nicole off at LAX for another 4-week session of talking on the phone, I was able to make it over to Glendale in time to do the 3/4 race at my third to last prestige series race, the Turkey Trot.

This was by far the coolest course there is in SoCal. Added to the course was just enough leaves and loose dirt and sand to make the course challenging but fun. Swooping turns you could rail through, a short sandy runup, a sand-trap and a hard little bit of single track that came after an almost 180-degree sandy turn.... pretty flipping sweet.

I started in the front row, and didn't quite get the usual fast sprint of a start that I'm capable of... probably didn't warm up enough. Though I still managed to slot into 5th or 6th. The whole first half of the first lap I had about a 5 second gap to the front group, and behind me was an even larger gap.... so I knew I had to gas it real hard to stay with the leaders. On one tricky part right when I had caught back on, a guy fell right in front of me, but by locking up the rear brake and sort of sliding around, I was able to get by him quickly, and right back up to the front of the group. After things settled down, it was the yellow jersey and another guy up the road, then me, and then two guys chasing me at about 10 seconds. Stayed that way for most of the race, until the 4th placed rider caught up to me, and then passed me when I slid out on a sandy turn. I didn't hammer it hard enough to get right back on his wheel, and he ended up getting a bit of a gap with about 2 laps to go.

With one lap to go, I had 4th in the bag, as I couldn't even see the 5th placed guy anymore, so I figured I'd take all the risks I could to try and catch the dude ahead of me. It was fun, with a few people yelling at me to catch up. I had been gaining on him in the corners, so I railed through some, going through sections without brakes that I didn't think I'd be able to manage. I finally caught him by skidding through the 180-degree sandy turn and getting the sand pit perfect. Though I botched the opportunity to pass him, and instead was right on his wheel (This as it turns out, is a subtle difference between cross and road. In a cross race, pass people. Always. This isn't always true on the road...) Having made the effort to get there, I didn't have the gas on the last quarter of the lap to stay on his wheel to try and win the sprint, and he got a bit of a gap again that I couldn't close. So I ended up 4th, but it was a heck of a fun race.

Looking forward to Bakersfield next weekend, where I'll be looking to snag another free jersey...this time it might have a bear on it...

Also, this is awesome. My former roomate Mike Friedman was on Slipstream for the last two years, and is still on it this year, as it progresses to a top-tier almost pro-tour level team. What a ride. I used to take craps in a toilet that he clogged on a consistent basis- I can't imagine what it's like to say hey, I have to get some good training in so I can help Magnus out in the Spring Classics. Unreal.