San Francisco, Big City, Big Race, Big Fun!

After a fine Thanksgiving meal with my Mom in Mammoth, Mary and I awoke the next morning and headed over Sonora Pass to San Francisco. The main impetus for our trip was to race in the Northern California/Nevada District Championships for Cyclocross, but we also wanted to spend some time at the beach, see our friend Henry, and simply be in The City.

We encountered a little rain and wind along the way, but when we got to The City the skies cleared, so we tossed out bags and bikes into our hotel and headed for the beach.
The sky with the moon was real nice (click to enlarge).
A great sunset topped the day off wonderfully.
The next day Mary headed over to the Haight for some shopping while I chilled out and visited the beach again (sorry no pics). We loved the Victorians in the city.
Sunday was race day. I was more than a little intimidated lining up with more than fifty guys.

When the gun went off I fumbled through the gears, unable to get into my big ring quickly while riders gradually streamed by me. The first lap was chaotic with lots of shoulder bumping and I narrowly avoided other riders crashing, sliding, stalling, and bumbling.
By the second lap I found a good rhythm and steadily passed rider after rider. The course was good fun without any real technical sections. The most difficult section was a swooping downhill into a bend, leading to a steep runup, a short slight hill, and a set of barriers. Here I am at the top of the runup.
Cruising and smiling!
Before I knew it the race was over. I was totally stoked so I gave a victory salute over the line.
I ended up 18th out of 52 in the 45+ B division. Only about 30 seconds off the top 10. Yippee!
Yikes! I was ugly, dirty, and real real happy.
I cleaned up, put on my spectator clothes, and settled in to watch the main event.
The rowdy crowd at the runup was huge.
These guys were running second and third the whole race and bunny hopped the barriers every time.
Simon raced the Single Speed A division. Here he is racing in front of his gal, Hallie, who is seen ringin' the cow bell for her man (left in brown).
Simon was concentrated and riding super smoothly.
He ended up a very fine sixth place and was rightly proud.
We joined our friends Henry and Natasha for great Thai food and retired for the evening exhausted and content.

The next morning we headed out for one more trip to the beach.
Mary dipped her feet in the cold ocean.
And contracted a happy case of foam foot.

What a great time we had!
Thanks to Henry, Natasha, Simon, Hallie, Erik and Kelly (friends of Simon's) for helping make this trip great. We will be back.